The Second Zodiac
by Yoshiko Kyoda
Summary: FINISHED! Fruits Basket & Gundam Wing crossover! Akito isn't very pleased when he finds out about other people with the zodiac curse. Definately some mild shounen ai.
1. The Prince

Hey! I recently got into Fruits Basket and my friend kawaii-chan gave me the idea for a Gundam Wing and Fruits Basket crossover! We can only imagine what might happen. Yeah, I suck at this so I'll get to the point.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Fruits Basket; they belong to their respectful owners. So don't sue me! I have no money anyway…

The Second Zodiac Chapter One: The Prince 

Thirteen people shared a curse. The vengeful spirits of the Chinese Zodiac possessed all of them. Little did the Sohma family know, that another group of twelve were cursed as well. Unlike the Sohma's, these people were unrelated to some extent. But because of this twist of fate, would this throw off the balance of the zodiac? My story begins at the Yukiro Private Academy…

Duo Maxwell strode in the halls of his school cheerfully. A group of fan girls walked behind him and around him, practically worshipping the ground he walked on. Duo made sure to stay far enough away so one of them couldn't suddenly hug him. He couldn't bear to be seen by so many girls when he transformed. What kind of an idol would he be if they found out?! At Yukiro Private Academy (A/N: School name provided by my good friend nicknamed Kyou-chan!), Duo was called the prince. The reason he was called "The Prince" was because of he's absolutely sexy looks and the fact that he didn't get ordered around by _anyone_. Duo neared the door to his classroom and made no effort to even think about opening the door. He was about to hit the door when his servant fan girls opened the door for him. He clearly milked his title for all its worth.

"Maxwell!" Barked the teacher. "You're late again! It doesn't bother me so much that a slacker like you is late but because of you, all of the girls in this class are late!" The teacher was getting very red in the face.

Duo sat in his usual seat in the center of the classroom. Then for his loyal fans he gave a charming smile to everyone then turned his attention back to the teacher. "Chill, _Sensei_. It's not my fault I'm not bald, look like a very dead prune, and act like I've constantly got something shoved up my ass like you." Duo couldn't help but grin at the infuriated teacher.

The teacher's face was now reaching an ugly shade of purple and Duo was afraid he might explode and get guts all over his hair. Man! That would take forever to wash out! "Maxwell! Out in the hall now!" The teacher roared. All of the girls in the class got mad and started screeching at the teacher.

Laughing, Duo walked casually out into the hall and waved goodbye to the teacher. "Good luck being the most hated _sensei_ now." With that, Duo shut the door and the chaos inside erupted.

Twenty minutes passed and Duo was leaning against the wall outside the classroom. Each arm was holding up a heavy bucket of water as punishment. A guy Duo didn't recognize walked past Duo. He paused for the split of a second and then went inside the classroom. From Duo's short glimpse of the guy, he saw that the guy had short dark brown hair and Prussian blue eyes. He also appeared to be the type of person that was very anti-social. Oh well, this new guy wasn't important; after all, Duo _was_ the Prince.

The teacher came out of the classroom and looked very desperate. "Maxwell! Get back in here! The girl's are just… I just… Please come back to class! I beg you!"

Puffing out his chest and acting superior, Duo grinned. "Well… I wouldn't because of how rude you were to me before… _demo_, I'm a nice guy so I'll come back to please my fans." Duo strutted back into the classroom to an uproar of cheers. Bowing, Duo took his seat once more.

The teacher stood at the podium in front of the class and cleared his throat. "Now that order has been restored. Please welcome the new transfer student, Heero Yuy. Because of his excellent marks on the entrance exam, Heero will be joining this class." He gestured to the boy with Prussian eyes that Duo had seen in the hallway. Most of the girls gave Heero blank looks. Duo sighed in relief; this guy was no threat to his position as prince at least. The teacher cleared his throat again to regain the class's attention. "We will be working in partners for your new school project. You will have to do research and write a report about ancient mythologies. You take your pick." An excited buzz started up and Duo heard (much to his pleasure) a group of girls all whispering about how they wished they would be partnered with Duo. "Now, I'll pair Mr. Maxwell with someone first." The class was completely silent, waiting for the name of which Duo would be partners with. "Mr. Yuy, you can be Maxwell's partner since you are new and being partnered with a good student wouldn't hurt Maxwell either." The class gasped.

"Hn." Was Heero's simple reply. Duo felt irritated. Sure this guy is new and all but he should at least be more respectful to the prince! Man, this was going to really suck!

TO BE CONTINUED 

That's the first chapter. Hope you liked it. Suggestions are welcome. Ja ne!


	2. School Project from Hell

Since I can't think very well at the moment, I apologize beforehand if the chapter sucks. I've decided that Duo is the rat, Heero is the Ox, Quatre will be the rabbit, and Wufei will either be the dragon or the tiger, can't make up my mind. I'm also going to have Kyou Sohma in the story since absolutely nothing can compare to his awesomeness. _Demo_, since our kitty friend will be joining us, so will the rest of the Sohma family. I really need some suggestions! Help me! And a BIG thank you to my first two reviewers, **volleyvoll34 **and **bit-Blackmage**. On with the story!

Chapter Two: School Project from Hell 

It was after school and the weather was really nice. Leaves were starting to change color and fall from their branches, signaling the beginning of autumn. Duo trudged along on the sidewalk. His day wasn't going very well so far. First, he had gotten sent out into the hallway for twenty minutes; which actually isn't all that bad except now his arms felt like overcooked spaghetti. Second, he had the perfect opportunity to be paired with the only girl he really liked for a school assignment. The very thought of Hilde made Duo feel a bit better. But unfortunately she ended up being partnered with some hot-tempered guy with sleek black hair tied back in a ponytail. And there had to be something wrong with the new kid, Heero Yuy. Duo remembered what had happened only a short while ago.

Duo was sulking from getting paired with Heero. Heero came up to him and laid a scrap of paper on Duo's desk.

_"What the hell is that? I'm not your garbage man, throw it away yourself, Yuy!" Duo snapped._

"Hn." Heero glared at Duo, then spoke in his usual monotone. "That's my address. Come after school. We need to work on the report." Then Heero turned and left without saying anything else.

Heero hardly seemed human the way he acted, all anti-social and empty. Duo pulled the scrap of paper out of his pocket and looked at the address again. Well, he was on the right street at least. This neighborhood looked pretty rough, like the kind you see on TV where someone's been murdered. Apartment complexes with ten-foot tall fences and barbed wire on top stretched all the way down the street and by the address, Heero's was at the very end of the street. Sighing, Duo continued his depressed trudge to Heero's house.

"Hey _you_!" called out an angry voice.

Duo looked up to see a teenage boy standing on the top of the fence surrounding an apartment complex. The boy had bright orange hair and angry red eyes. Duo recognized this boy from before. He randomly appeared and would pick fights with Duo, always losing.

"Fight me you damn rat!" Kyou shouted. (A/N: Go Kyou!!!)

Kyou Sohma… they had the honor of meeting each other when they were younger in elementary school. They always fought and it seemed Kyou had reappeared to try and end the long line of losses to Duo. Duo smirked and flipped his long braided chestnut hair. "You _again_? Why don't you just give up _baka neko_? I don't know why you want to fight me anyway, you always lose."

Kyou jumped down from the fence, his fist pulled back to strike Duo when he landed. Easily moving out of the way, Duo brought up his knee into Kyou's stomach. Kyou collapsed onto his knees, holding his gut.

Shrugging, Duo taunted, "Another quick win for the Prince." Then he continued on down the street.

The apartment building where Heero lived was dirty and grimy. With a scrunched noise, Duo went up the stairs and kicked the door labeled '4' so he didn't have to touch the door. Heero opened the door slightly to where only his Prussian eyes could be seen; it was still somewhat held shut by the chain lock. "Hn." Was once again the only thing Heero said. He closed the door again to undo the chain lock then opened the door wider, so Duo could come in. Duo entered and looked around at the cleaner interior of Heero's apartment then he turned and looked Heero up and down. Heero was wearing a green tank top and spandex shorts. _Why the hell spandex shorts?_ Duo wondered.

"Er… nice place…" Duo said nervously to start a conversation.

Heero didn't respond, instead he went into the kitchen where a laptop sat on the small table. Both of them took a seat at the table and there was a long silence.

"So… what's our report about?" Duo tried to strike up a conversation again.

"Mythology." Heero said bluntly.

"What mythology should we do?"

"Hn…"

"I don't know what we should do either… I'm American and we don't have many mythologies. I'm not Japanese either so…" Duo rambled.

"Chinese." Heero muttered.

"Why Chinese? I mean we could do the zodiac or something but why Chinese?" A nervous feeling was starting to grow inside Duo.

"Chinese." Heero stated firmly.

That was it, Duo had snapped. "What the hell is your problem, man?! And why do you always answer me with fragments?!" Duo ranted.

Prussian blue met cobalt blue eyes. Heero responded in his usual unemotional monotone but it seemed like he was a different person now. "Who do you think you are, Prince? You look down on others like they are dirt."

"I do not!" Duo protested.

"You don't know how hard life can be. Especially when you're cursed." Heero growled.

Blinking twice, Duo had to think about that. _What does he mean by cursed?_

Heero drew out a 9mm handgun and aimed it at Duo, who started to back away. "Get out." Heero hissed.

Duo was really scared now. "Whoa man! Chill! And where the hell did you draw that gun? Spandex space?"

"_Omae o korosu_." Duo ducked and ran for the door as Heero pulled back on the trigger and the bullet hit the wall where Duo's head had been.

Scrambling for the door, Duo flung it open and ran out of the apartment building and down the street back into his neighborhood. He skidded to a halt and leaned against a nearby wall, catching his breath. Was Heero nuts?! He was trying to kill him! Duo turned around and faced the direction where Heero lived.

"Fine! You can do the damn report by yourself!" Duo spat and went inside his house.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

I hope you guys liked this new chapter. If you have some input for me, it's very welcome; hell I don't even mind flames.


	3. The Frightened Rat

A thanks goes to my third, fourth, and fifth reviewer, **Jupiter Nights**, **TifaLockheart**,and **kawaii Jen**! We've got an insane Heero and a snobby Duo, what else could possibly happen besides Kyou appearing randomly?

Chapter Three: The Frightened Rat 

As usual, Duo got up for school late, took his time taking a shower and washing his long hair. Then when he finally made it to school, he was late to class, as usual. The teacher had given up trying to make Duo behave, but for some reason he wasn't as smart-ass as usual. Gee, I wonder why? Because Heero shot at him yesterday! Speak of the devil, Heero sat a couple seats behind Duo and Duo was jumpy all day. At lunch, Duo sat with his usual group of girls around him. One girl was even doing Duo's hair! A couple tables over sat the mysterious Heero, staring at Duo. He was so caught up in staring that he didn't notice two people walk up to Heero and sit down on either side of him.

"I hope you have enjoyed your first couple of days at Yukiro Academy so far."

The polite voice broke Heero's train of thought and he turned to his right, where a platinum blond wearing the senior high-level uniform sat.

"I'm Quatre Raberba Winner, it's a pleasure to meet you, Heero Yuy." Quatre smiled.

"Hn." Three guesses to who said that and the first two don't count.

"I'm Trowa Barton." The spiky brown haired Trowa greeted in his quiet voice from Heero's left. Trowa wore the same senior high-level uniform as Heero.

Heero nodded and continued his blank stare.

"Have you and Duo been getting along? I heard you were partners for the project in Social Studies." Quatre asked while starting to eat his cafeteria '_food_'.

"Not exactly." Heero stopped looking in Duo's direction.

Trowa snorted. "All Maxwell cares about, is his role as 'the Prince'."

Both Quatre and Heero agreed.

"Another person you should look out for is Chang Wufei and his groupies." Quatre pointed to another table in the opposite direction where Wufei was sitting with a bunch of tough looking guys. Wufei also wore the senior high uniform.

"Then what's this guy's reputation?" Heero asked while looking at Wufei without much interest.

"What do you know? It _can_ talk more than just fragmented sentences. Well if Maxwell is the Prince then I guess you could say Chang is the Duke."

"Hn."

Quatre looked at his watch and stood. "I better get going to class. Trowa, would you be so kind as to escort me?" Trowa nodded and the two of them walked to Quatre's next class hand in hand. Nearby girls were whispering, "They look so cute together."

Meanwhile, back with the Prince. Duo wasn't feeling too hungry at the moment and the cafeteria food wasn't helping. A girl with long blond hair and blue eyes sat down next to Duo.

"Excuse me." She said politely. "Can I see you in private?"

"Uh… sure, whatever." Duo mumbled not really paying attention.

She led him out of the cafeteria to a place quieter and less crowded. When Duo finally came to and was fully paying attention he recognized the girl to be Relena Peacecraft.

"Er… what can I do for you Relena?" Duo asked uncomfortably.

Relena blushed. "You remembered my name! Well, I have something to tell you." Duo waited for her to continue. "I have to admit that I've fallen in love with you!" She exclaimed dramatically.

"_Nani_?!" Duo squeaked in surprise.

"Don't tell me you don't feel the same. After all, what is better suited for a prince than a princess?" Relena stepped closer to Duo. Inching closer to a cornered Duo, Relena was about to wrap her arms around Duo's neck and kiss him when he pushed her away roughly.

"Get away from me!" Duo yelled in a panic and ran from Relena.

"But Duo my love, come back!" Relena cried out.

In an attempt to escape, Duo was running through the halls and crashed into someone just as they were coming around a corner.

"Oof! Watch where you're going!" Duo snapped.

"Well, well, well, Maxwell. Running through the halls?" Duo's Social Studies teacher looked down at Duo with a displeased face.

"Oh hey, _sensei_." Duo laughed nervously. "I've been meaning to speak to you. About that school project for our class, can I change partners?"

"Why?" The teacher gathered up the books he had dropped and straightened his glasses.

_Because Heero almost killed me yesterday!_ "Um… because, I just think Yuy should be someone else's partner."

Sighing, the teacher nodded. "Very well, if you really want to change partners so badly then come to my office after school." With that, the teacher continued on his way.

Back in the cafeteria, Relena was pouting from her encounter with Duo. Looking up she saw Heero still eating his lunch and she got an idea.

"Oh Heero!" Relena called out in a flirtatious voice.

Heero didn't even look up.

Relena pranced over to Heero and sat down across from him. "Heero, I've fallen in love with you!" She exclaimed dramatically. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

Without answering, Heero stood and left the cafeteria. Relena stuck her nose in the air and stomped off to her next class.

After school, Duo found himself in the last place he would want to be after school… his Social Studies teacher's office. Of all of Duo's teacher's, Mr. Jones (A/N: name supplied by my onee-san!) was his least favorite… if you hadn't already figured that out. Mr. Jones shuffled some papers in front of him and cleared his throat. Did this guy have a problem with swallowing snot or something? Because he sure cleared his throat a lot.

"It seems you weren't the only one who wanted to change partners. Almost every girl wanted to be switched to your group except for a couple. Chang-_san_ refused to be partnered to Hilde-_san_, saying she was just a weak woman. So Chang-_san_ will now be partners with Heero." That's good, now Heero can shoot Wufei. Wufei deserves it after being so rude to Hilde. "Hilde is partners with Relena now since Relena's partner threatened to kill her. So your new partner is Yume Midori." Mr. Jones rambled. Duo was just relieved to be put into a different group from spandex boy.

"Thanks J-_san_." Duo grabbed his books and left in a hurry.

Outside, Duo was looking up at the sky wondering who Yume was and what they were like. Two guys in their late twenties approached Duo; one from behind and the other from the front.

"Come with us, Duo Maxwell." The one in front of him said.

"No way!" Duo backed away and into the man behind him. The man in front of him had black hair covering his left eye and looked down on Duo with a cold stare. He came closer and Duo pulled up his fists to fight but the man behind him with longer black hair held onto his arms so he couldn't fight. The other guy punched Duo in the stomach hard, knocking him out.

TO BE CONTINUED 

Cliffy! Review please.


	4. Visit with Akito

Chapter Four: Visit with Akito 

Everything was dark; noises sounded distant but gradually got closer. Distinguishing two different voices as he was coming around, Duo lay on whatever surface he was on.

"Did you have to be so rough with him, Ha'ri?" One of the voices said.

"He resisted, Shigure." The other replied simply. "Akito demanded to see him right away."

"I'm assuming Akito also wanted the boy _unharmed_." The first one retorted.

Ignoring this comment, the other went on. "It looks like he's coming around."

Duo rubbed his head and sat up. Then he started to panic when he couldn't see anything. "I can't see! I'm blind!" Duo shouted.

Pausing for a couple of seconds, the second one spoke up. "It would help if you opened your eyes."

"Oh yeah… I knew that." Duo opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

Hatori and Shigure, Duo assumed, were the only other people in the room with Duo. Now, he could get a better look at them. The one that knocked Duo out wore a suit and with his right eye staring at Duo, seemed like a very serious man. The other one wore traditional Japanese clothes and seemed friendlier.

"What am I doin' here?" Duo demanded.

"Since you've gone so far as to bring him here, you should tell him, Hatori." The friendly one said.

"Be quiet, Shigure." Hatori snapped. "The head of our family, Akito Sohma, wanted to meet with you, Duo Maxwell."

"What for?" Duo asked suspiciously, hoping this Akito guy wasn't one of those sick guys that kidnap children for their sex slaves.

"There's a great deal to explain." _No thanks, I already know how to bleep so I don't need to learn from Akito…_ Duo thought in his sick mind. Shigure chuckled as Hatori left the room to retrieve something.

After a couple of minutes, Hatori returned, helping a weak looking figure. This Akito guy looked to be about the age if not a little older than Duo. And Duo had expected Akito to be some ugly old geezer. Once again another sick thought crossed Duo's mind. Akito was very pale and looked ill. He also wore traditional Japanese clothes and his dark hair was kind of long and untidy. Akito's keen eyes looked over Duo and made him shudder.

"So you're Duo Maxwell?" Akito breathed quietly.

"Y-yeah." Duo fumbled nervously.

Akito laughed, thinking it very amusing that Duo was so nervous. "Why do you seem so… anxious?" Duo shook his head, refusing to admit being so jumpy. "You don't have to be afraid of me." Akito smirked. "Well, let me ask you this, have you ever tried to hug a girl, but instead you transformed into an animal?" Akito questioned with an air of supreme authority.

Duo nodded. "When I was eight, I hugged a girl and because of that I had to move here." Duo explained in a low tone. He didn't know why he was telling Akito this, but he had the feeling he better do what Akito wanted.

"And you are the Rat, correct?" Akito pressed.

Starting to get impatient, Duo replied, "Yes, I transform into the rat."

"Do you know the legend of the Chinese Zodiac?"

Duo's patience had reached its limit and even though he was scared to death of Akito, he snapped. "Look! First you kidnap me; then you scare the shit out of me with your creepy ass! I have more important things to be doing than sharing fairy tales with you, O Great-wise-dip-shit-of-the-family!" Duo hadn't realized that in his rant session he had risen to his feet.

Akito frowned deeply, his eyes narrowed in anger. "It seems the traits of the Rat vary with each person." Akito mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duo felt insulted.

Akito ignored Duo. "I'll warn you, I'm tracking down each and every one of you zodiac stragglers… only the Sohma's will live with this curse. Shigure, Hatori, remove this rude rat at once."

A few moments later, Duo walked the streets again after being thrown out (literally) by Hatori and Shigure. Rounding the corner of his street, Duo came face to face with a mob of fan girls holding torches. Relena was in the front and the first to see Duo.

"Look! It's the Prince!" Relena shrieked.

"I want his rubber ducky!" Fan girl #7 cried.

Screaming, Duo ran from the charging mob. Going back around the corner from whence he came, the panicked Duo turned and went into an alleyway. Duo looked back and ran right into someone then fell on top of them. The person he crashed into had a soft body and a second later with a puff of smoke Duo transformed into a white rat.

"_Kisama!_" the girl Duo fell on yelled.

From the folds of Duo's clothes (which he was currently burrowed in) this is what Duo heard:

The mob of torch carrying girls screeched to a halt.

"Hey Blue Bangs!" Relena's voice addressed the girl whom Duo ran into. "Have you seen the Prince?"

Duo felt the one called "Blue Bangs" scoop up Duo's clothes in her arms and get to her feet. But she didn't respond.

"Blue Bangs! Are you deaf?!" Relena mocked loudly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Blue Bangs apologized sarcastically. "Were you talkin' to meh? Because Blue Bangs is not my name."

"Hmph, whatever! Have you seen the Prince?" Fan girl #7 snapped.

"Not to my recollection." Blue Bangs stated innocently.

Relena snorted impatiently. "You're lying, Yankee! His majesty's clothes are in your arms!" The rest of the girls shrieked their agreement.

"My name's not Yankee either." Blue snorted and shifted her weight onto her right leg. "So these are his clothes? I didn't know that. Perhaps he was in such a hurry to get away from you obsessive girls-with-no-life that he somehow lost his clothes in the process?" Blue Bangs suggested.

From the bundle of clothes, Duo heard the girls sigh dreamily and he bet his reputation they were picturing Duo naked. Then the girl holding him started to walk forward and was suddenly stopped.

"Where do you think you're going, Blue Bangs?" Relena and her followers closed in on her.

Suddenly, the girl dropped the bundle of clothes and Duo the rat squeaked. Luckily, no one heard because another girl yelped at the same time. The little rat trembled in his clothes. Would someone step on him? What happened to the girl holding him?

"Hey! Let go of Relena!" a girl's voice, which Duo recognized to be Catherine's, screamed.

Duo heard a rustle.

Eeep!

"Okay Pink Princess." Blue Bang's voice said calmly. "Call off your 'Prince Fan Club' or I'll smash your ugly face in."

Duo heard the mob scampering away in fright and then heard Relena being released and yelling back as she ran. "We'll get you, Yankee!"

A few moments passed and Duo started to think he was forgotten when once again the girl picked up Duo's bundled school uniform. She rummaged through the clothing until the little white rat Duo was looking directly into her calm sapphire blue eyes. Long blue bangs hung loosely around her face and the rest of her hair was a golden blonde. Duo now knew why the 'Prince Fan Club' called her "Blue Bangs". She stared down at Duo suspiciously for several minutes.

"Howdy!" Duo exclaimed and did a little peace sign with his tiny paw.

"Holy shit!" the girl gasped and dropped Duo again.

Duo yelped. "Would you stop doing that?!"

"My bad." Regaining her composure, she responded calmly.

A cloud of smoke erupted and the human Duo sat on the cold sidewalk, naked.

Blushing furiously, the girl turned around quickly and snapped. "Put some clothes on you pervert!"

Duo had to stifle his laughter, but obeyed. When he was done he decided not to stay and try and explain to this girl what just happened so he bolted past her and ran back to his house before she could stop him.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

Sorry for the late chapter but for a while I didn't feel like writing, plus ideas were coming slow. Until next time, Ja!


	5. The Rat and the Snake

Chapter Five: The Rat and the Snake

"Maxwell! Detention!" Mr. Jones hollered and pointed to the door.

"Yes sir…" Duo noticed he was becoming increasingly unpopular with the teachers and even with some of the students now. Not to mention someone now knew he would turn into a rat when a girl hugged him. But he didn't let it get him down! He only failed two tests, tripped on the stairs into a garbage can, and walked into several doors… all in the same day too! Oh sure, it wasn't bothering him at all… he only thought about it twenty four-seven.

The detention room had its usual occupants in it. Thugs, lazy guys, and also a few girls spent most of their school days in detention. Duo sat at a desk in the back and slumped in his chair. How could he let himself slip this much? He didn't like school but he would rather sit in class than detention. You get less attention when you're in detention with other people that could care less if you were the Prince or not. The detention door swung open and a girl wearing a sloppy, tomboyish senior uniform with blue bangs walked in. Duo's heart turned to ice. He pulled out one of his textbooks and propped it in front of his face so she wouldn't recognize him. Since the girl seemed to come to detention on a regular basis she walked up to the front and chatted with the detention teacher, Mrs. Fury.

"What are you in for this time?" Mrs. Fury asked casually.

"Nothing serious today, Mrs. Callendracula decided she didn't like my hair today and sent me here." Blue bangs dug into her school bag and brought out what looked like a sandwich. "It's roast beef today. What do you have?"

Mrs. Fury brought out another sandwich. "It's tuna."

"Good deal." Blue bangs and Mrs. Fury exchanged sandwiches and then Blue bangs turned around to pick a seat.

Duo prayed she wouldn't notice him when she looked in his direction. All in vain though, Blue bangs recognized his long braid at once and sat next to him. Pretending not to notice her, Duo suddenly found out how fascinating the word "prophylactic" was.

"This was the last place I expected to see the Prince, of all places." Blue bangs chuckled with amusement.

"Can't say the same about you." Duo replied softly while still staring at the word "prophylactic".

She snorted and pulled out a small piece of paper. "That's my address. I think it would be in your best interest to show up tonight." Blue bangs said threateningly.

Duo looked nervously between her and the sheet of paper. "Um… sorry… I don't want to hurt your feelings but I can't be your boyfriend and-"

WHAP!

"Ow! What the Hell was that for?!" Duo demanded while rubbing his cheek.

"Ms. Midori, don't make me give you Saturday detention." Mrs. Fury said in a monotone without looking up.

"First of all, I wouldn't want you as a boyfriend, you idiot! Secondly, you are my partner in that Mythology project so you better show up to do some of the work!" Blue bangs growled.

Duo shrank in fear. "Okay!" He squeaked. "S-so you're Yume Midori?"

"Yah." Yume sharpened her very long nails and Duo scooted his desk farther away.

Duo was waiting for the moment that Yume asked him about what happened last night. But she never asked. Didn't even speak to Duo for the rest of her time in detention. The final bell rang and everyone exited the detention room. A girl was waiting outside the detention room for someone. She had long shimmering silver hair that went past her waist and her eyes were a golden color. She also wore the junior high uniform. When Yume walked out of the classroom ahead of Duo the silver-haired girl practically pounced on Yume.

"Oh Yume-chan! That mean teacher put my poor little Yume-chan in detention because of her beautiful blue bangs! How cruel this world is!" the other girl exclaimed.

Duo tensed, half expecting to see Yume cut the girl to ribbons with her harpy nails. Once again Yume surprised Duo by patting the other girl on the head. "Thank you for your concern, Gin-chan."

"Oh Yume-chan! You are so misunderstood! And that guy's got a staring problem!" Gin pointed to Duo. "Doesn't anyone get any privacy in this world?!"

"Uh… uh…" Duo stuttered. Gin seemed to make such a big deal out of things.

"The poor boy can't even speak he's so ashamed of his eavesdropping!" Gin let go of Yume and hugged Duo.

"Ack! Lemme go!" Duo panicked and tried to push her away. Refusing to let go, Gin clutched Duo around the waist. Duo blinked twice, confused. A girl had just hugged him but he didn't turn into a rat. "What the Hell?! Why didn't I change?"

Yume burst out laughing. Gin just snuggled closer to Duo. "Gin-chan is a bit clingy." Yume explained while trying to hide her smile.

"I can see that! But it still doesn't answer my question." Duo muttered bluntly.

Gin looked up at Duo with anime tears in her eyes. "At last! I have found thee! Another one of the Zodiac!" Squeezing him harder, Gin didn't notice that Duo was turning a slight shade of purple.

"Help… me…" Duo gasped.

"Gin-chan, I think you should let go of Maxwell long enough to explain to him some things." Yume said while leading the other two outside of the school.

"Forgive me my dear Yume-chan!" Gin released Duo. "I love you most of all, you shouldn't get jealous over a rat." Gin smiled lovingly.

Sweat dropping, Yume returned Gin's smile with a crooked grin.

It was Duo's turn to burst out laughing. "Now I know why you refused to want me as a boyfriend! It's because you're gay!"

WHAP!

Duo stumbled backwards with another blow to his cheek. "Bitch!" He spat.

Yume grabbed Duo's shirt collar and was inches from his face. "It's a pity such good looks should end up with someone with such a rotten personality." She hissed.

"Oh Yume-chan! You are such a wonderful friend. You really _do_ love me." Gin smiled and a bubbly background appeared behind her.

"Okay Drama Queen, on with the explanation of the zodiac." Yume mumbled while dropping Duo.

"Ah! Of course." Gin became somewhat serious or at least as serious as she could be. "The reason I can hug you even though I am a girl is because I too, am cursed by the zodiac. I am the snake… and lucky me! Yume is the rooster which means we are destined to be together!" Gin hugged Yume tightly and Yume smiled.

"Oh…" Duo trailed off in thought.

When he looked back at Yume and Gin, they were gone. Confused, Duo walked home to grab a snack before going to Yume's house to work on their project.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

I'll have short bios up next chapter. And will Yume kill Duo? Find out next week on The Second Zodiac!


	6. Over at Yume's house

**Chapter Six: Over at Yume's House**

Rapping his fist on the door, Duo stepped back and looked around him. This was a nicer apartment complex where Yume lived, larger too.

"Come in!" came the shout from within.

Duo turned the doorknob and left his shoes at the door. There was a TV on in the living room and Duo could smell bacon.

"Yume?" Duo called, looking around but seeing no one.

"She's not here." Gin's cheerful voice answered from the kitchen. Why is Gin here? Duo wondered. "Yume-chan will be home from work in a little while and she told me to tell you, that if you cause any trouble she'll throw you out the 2nd floor window." Gin came into the living room with a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich and plopped down onto a couch to watch TV.

"Yume works?" Duo suddenly remembered that Yume was a couple years older than him.

"Oh Yume-chan! You work so hard to take care of me even when you found me on the streets!" Duo didn't know if she was exaggerating or being truthful.

The front door opened and slammed shut.

"Welcome home, Yume-chan!" Gin cheered after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

Yume seemed a little worn out and set down most of her things at the door. "Gin, you need to study for your quiz tomorrow. Then you need to go straight to bed." Yume turned off the TV and shooed Gin into her room.

"Yes ma'am." Gin grumbled and shut the door to her room.

Re-entering the living room, Yume sighed and sat down.

"I should give you more credit with the way you live." Duo smirked.

"Just because it's been a long day doesn't mean I'm too tired to toss you out the window." Yume replied smugly.

Glancing around, Duo turned back to Yume. "Can I ask why Gin lives with you?"

"Long story really." Yume closed her eyes briefly. "So what are we to write about?"

"Uh…" Duo began.

"Ah hah! I've found you once again you damned rat!" Kyou Sohma shouted from Yume's balcony.

"Not again…" Duo grumbled.

"Fight me, Rat!" Kyou yelled.

"Get out of my house!" Yume roared.

"Who the hell are you?" Kyou asked while standing on the railing of the balcony, which was linked to the living room.

"I should be asking you that." Yume sneered.

"I'm Kyou Sohma." Kyou stated simply.

Yume walked over to Kyou. "Nice to meet you." Then she pushed him off the balcony.

SPLAT!

"Ow… my hip…" Kyou groaned.

"What's all this noise?" Gin had come out of her room and was rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing." Yume made her tone gentler. "It's getting late. Duo, we'll work on this later. Gin, time for bed."

Duo stood and started for the door. Looking back, Duo didn't see Gin hugging Yume, but a mother and child embracing.

"G'night." Gin returned to her room.

Yume smiled and turned back to Duo. "Get out already!"

Whoa, talk about mood change. "Alright! Alright!" Duo ran out and when he stood on the lamp lit street, he sighed. Come to think of it, he had no one that cared about him that much. He suddenly felt very alone. Leaning against a concrete wall, Duo felt envious of Gin and Yume. Sighing again, Duo headed home.

In the shadows of an alleyway, Hatori and Shigure watched Duo.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about all this… Akito has been even creepier than usual." Shigure noted.

"Akito's word is law." Hatori reminded. "Besides… anyone who gets involved with the Sohmas ends up in tragedy."

"Yeah…" Shigure trailed off.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

Time for bios of original characters so far!

Yume Midori

Sign: rooster

Age: 19

Year in school: 11th

Crush: Hatsuharu

"I'm not stupid, just don't have much time to study" 

Gin Akigawa

Sign: snake

Age: 11

Year in school: 6th

Crush: Yume

"Yume-chan! I owe everything to you…" 


	7. Meeting others

To clear something up, Yume is not a part of the zodiac curse because when she and Duo first meet she couldn't hug him.

Chapter Seven: Meeting others 

Rain poured down on Duo as he ran to school. A crack of thunder echoed from not too far away. "You'd think they should cancel school because of this weather!" Duo hollered, barely able to hear himself. Other students were also running to school. One of them was running in front of Duo and slipped on the wet concrete. Not being able to stop in time, Duo tripped over the person. "Ack! Sorry!" Duo helped the person up then continued running to school. Being as distracted as he was, Duo didn't recognize the surprised Prussian blue eyes that stared after Duo. By the time Duo reached homeroom, he was out of breath and his braid had come loose. Stray strands of chestnut brown hair hung loosely past his waist. Mocking laughter from behind him caught Duo's attention. He turned around to see a guy with jet-black hair slicked back into a short ponytail.

"Chang…" Duo muttered. Wufei was the only person in school that competed for the title of prince.

"Maxwell, that's a good look for you." Wufei snickered.

"I'd fight you here and now, Chang, but I'm sure you wouldn't want a single hair to be out of place." Duo smirked.

Wufei scoffed and pulled his hair out of the ponytail. "You wanna fight? After all, I'm sure it would be an easy win for you, _Prince_."

So much for Duo's bluff, he knew he wasn't even a close match compared to Wufei. Fighting him would surely get Duo put in the hospital. Wufei seemed to realize this too, for he was smirking most wickedly. A familiar blonde figure could be seen out of the corner of Duo's eye. Yume saw what was happening and strode casually over behind Wufei and elbowed him in the back of the head, but it looked like an accident.

Wufei whipped around angrily. "_Baka onna_!"

WHAP!

Yume left a red imprint of her hand on Wufei's left cheek. "Don't disrespect women." Yume said calmly.

Wufei was pissed now. "Women are weak! How dare you touch me!"

Yume picked up Wufei by the shirt collar and his feet dangled a couple of inches off the ground. "I see the imprint of my hand on your face wasn't enough! How about the wall this time?" Yume shook Wufei roughly.

Yume frightened even Wufei. Note to self: bug Wufei about this later. "Injustice!" Wufei yelled.

"Oh, my bad." Yume dropped Wufei, who decided to move to the other end of the classroom.

"I see that you had to have your _woman_ fight for you." Wufei sneered after moving a great distance from Yume.

Duo was about to make a smart remark when someone else beat him to it. "Maxwell is becoming a nicer person than you'll ever be!"

Turning around, Duo looked at Yume who looked as puzzled as him. Then Duo saw Heero standing at the door. He finally made the connection that it was Heero that he had helped up on the way to school. Note to self: don't help someone who wants to shoot you with his 9mm.

Yume looked between Heero and Duo, shrugged and walked to her seat.

The downpour of rain continued all day. Yume and Duo had decided to write the report about Egyptian mythology. Neither had much time to study during the week but since tomorrow they had the day off from school, both decided that they should meet and study at the public library. Duo had taken his umbrella out of his locker and walked home. The dull sound of rain drummed on the umbrella as he walked. He wondered why Heero stuck up for him earlier today. Last time he checked, Heero had wanted to kill him. Oh well…

"Duo-kun!" a familiar voice shouted as they ran to him.

Turning, Duo saw a silver blur before it hugged him tightly. "Erm… Hi, Gin."

Gin released Duo and smiled. "Yume-chan says you have to take me by a fabric store to buy some fabric for my costume in an up-coming play. Then she wants you to drop me off at her work."

Duo sweat dropped. "Oh joy…" his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Which way is the fabric store?"

"This way!" Gin pointed and pulled Duo after her.

The sign to the store had a large rose on it. Duo and Gin entered and a bell rang.

"Why hello there! I guess you must have heard about how wonderful my store is!" said a tall figure with long white hair.

Duo felt himself turn slightly red in the cheeks. This woman was pretty. "Well uh…" Duo stuttered.

"G-good evening." A male shop assistant with flaming red hair that looked like a rooster, bowed to Duo and Gin.

Before he knew it the woman was right in his face. "Now, now, don't be shy! I'm sure we can find something here for you! Let me guess, you are one of our special cases, aren't you, sir? Which do you prefer? A maid outfit? Or maybe just any nice dress?"

"A dress?! For _me_?!" Duo exclaimed while his blush deepened.

"You don't have to be ashamed! We have lots of customers like you here!" the woman flipped her long white hair over her shoulder and a rosy background appeared.

"Whoa! Wait a minute! I'm not gay okay! This little girl wanted some fabric." Duo explained.

"Oh…" she seemed very disappointed. "Well what would the young lady like?"

Gin told the woman what she wanted and waited while the woman and her assistant took some fabrics off the shelves.

Duo laughed slightly. "The owner really reminds me of you, in a way." Duo looked down on Gin.

"Oh!" Gin whispered in Duo's ear. "That's because Ayame also has the zodiac curse. He is the snake. And the shop assistant, his name is Nori. He's the rooster."

"All of the snakes must be drama queens or something…" Duo blinked twice. "What the…? You said _he_!" Duo pointed at Ayame. Gin nodded. Oh my God! Duo had just been a little attracted to a _man_!!! He was starting to scare himself.

Ayame handed Gin the fabric and she paid for it. "Don't tell me!" Ayame smiled in fake modesty. "You mistook me for a woman?"

"Well uh… about that… I'm very so-"

"Oh I'm so happy! Even a woman couldn't compare to my looks! Are you sure you don't want a dress, sir?" Ayame asked. "It'll be free since you gave me such a big compliment."

"No way! Let's get out of here!" Duo grabbed Gin's hand and fled back into the rain.

Somehow, in the process of running away from Ayame and his shop, Duo had forgotten his umbrella. So he and Gin ran to Yume's work to avoid getting totally soaked.

"This building is _HUGE_!" Duo panted while running through the door.

Gin squeezed her long silver hair to dry it out. "Yeah, it's owned by the Sohma family. They're like rich!" Drying out the rest of her clothes as best as she could, Gin continued, "Yume-chan is on the 27th floor." She led the way to a nearby elevator and they rode it up to the 27th floor.

The doors opened and several women were cleaning. Duo recognized Yume cleaning over by a window.

"Yume-chan!" Gin ran over and hugged Yume.

Yume laughed and looked up at Duo. "Thanks for helping me out. But the store closes pretty soon and I didn't have enough time after work."

Duo nodded. A commotion down the hall caught his attention.

"What do you mean they didn't agree to our deal?! That deal was very important to the company! Thanks to you, your job might be gone by tomorrow." A tall woman with long black hair yelled. She looked too thin and wore a fashionable suit with a skirt.

"I-I am really sorry, ma'am!" another employee stammered.

"It's all your fault! Get out of my sight now!" the black haired woman screamed.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" the employee ran down the hall and locked himself in his office.

The woman lit a cigarette and some ashes fell onto the floor that was currently being cleaned.

"Oh! Excuse me, ma'am. But you're dropping cigarette ashes onto the carpet." Said a young girl that Duo thought he recognized from school.

"That's not my fault. It's because there aren't enough ash trays in this building!" the woman complained.

"I'm terribly sorry! I'll make sure that there are more tomorrow!" the girl apologized.

"Tomorrow isn't soon enough-!"

"Please, Fujika-san, Tohru is really trying. Stop bullying her around." Yume said quietly but firmly.

Yume's reputation must hang over her like a storm cloud because Fujika stopped yelling and went back into her office.

"Yume-san, you didn't have to…" Tohru began.

"Yes, I did. Don't argue with me Tohru. I'll see you guys later." Yume walked over to the elevator with Gin and entered.

"Talk about PMS queen." Duo snickered.

"Fujika Uchida blames everything on everyone else." Yume explained. "In a way she doesn't suit her sign."

"She's cursed by the zodiac too!" Duo exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, believe it or not she is the monkey." The elevator arrived at the bottom floor and Gin held Yume's hand and left. "Thanks again, rat boy!"

Duo walked home in the rain again. He had met three other people with the zodiac curse today. Almost everyone seemed cursed now! How many more would he meet?

TO BE CONTINUED 

Profiles for Nori and Fujika:

Nori Miroku

Sign: rooster

Age: 19

Year in school: graduated

Crush: Ayame

_"Oh, did you mean me? Sorry!"_

Fujika Uchida

Sign: monkey

Age: 20

Year in school: graduated

Crush: Hatori

_"It's all your fault!"_


	8. The double Zodiac

Before I start the next chapter I would like to thank those that pointed out things to me! I have a tendency to get ahead of myself and leave out things. Plus, I bet my story is very confusing!

Chapter Eight: A double zodiac 

"I'm home." Tohru Honda called while setting down her umbrella and swapping shoes at the doorway.

"Welcome home, Tohru." Yuki greeted from the dining room.

"Wel… come… home." Kyou yawned lazily.

Tohru walked into the kitchen to make dinner. "How does leek soup sound for tonight?"

Kyou slammed his fist into the table. "No! I hate…" He paused to yawn. "Leeks!"

"Oh-oh! That's right, I'm so sorry, I keep forgetting." Tohru turned a bright red and apologized.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kyou grumbled.

Shigure opened the sliding front door and walked in after changing shoes. "I'm back." Running a hand through his long black hair, Shigure sat down at the dinner table, waiting for a good meal.

Tohru fixed leek soup and some fish. As usual everyone loved her cooking. It was much better than take-out every night.

"Is there something on your mind, Shigure? You've been silent ever since you came home." Tohru looked at Shigure with concern.

Yuki sighed and set down his bowl of rice. "What has Akito done now?"

"Huh?" Blinking twice, Tohru glanced back and forth between Yuki and Shigure.

"I've been going to the main house everyday for the past week now. Something weird has come up." Shigure explained.

"What's weird?" Tohru asked. "Oh! I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask."

Shigure smiled. "No, no, it's alright. Hatori and I have found other people with the zodiac curse like the Sohmas."

"Like who?" Yuki inquired.

"Different people, we haven't found them all. But the one person we are absolutely positive about, is Duo Maxwell." Shigure said thoughtfully. "He is also possessed by the spirit of the rat."

Kyou snapped to attention then went back to being lazy. "Duo? I know him… no wonder he always pisses me off."

"He goes to my school." Tohru piped up.

"He does? I've never met him at school." Yuki wondered.

"Oh, that's because Yukiro Senior level is split into two groups, A and B. Duo is in the A group and you are in the B group so neither of you share any classes." Tohru explained.

"You actually memorized all that?" Kyou yawned.

"Kyou, stop being rude." Yuki glared at Kyou. "I think I'll transfer to group A tomorrow."

"You picking a fight with me you damn rat?" Kyou questioned.

"That sounds great Yuki. We'll share classes then." Tohru smiled.

"Did you hear me you damn rat?" Kyou raised his voice.

"Sounds wonderful, Miss Honda." Yuki smiled at Tohru. "Shut up Kyou."

Kyou slumped on the table and sighed.

Shigure sipped his tea silently. "Oh no, we left you out of the conversation, Shigure." Tohru said apologetically.

"Hm? It's all right. Something's just been on my mind." Shigure went silent and sipped his tea again. A tense silence hung in the dining room.

"Go on." Yuki pressed.

"Akito is very displeased with finding out about others that have the zodiac curse and aren't Sohmas. Angry enough to do something rash, most likely." Shigure finished his tea and stood. "Thank you for dinner, Tohru. As always it was great." Shigure went into his study.

Yuki's bangs hung over his eyes and he shuddered slightly. "Whatever Akito's planning can only lead to disaster."

Kyou nodded while Tohru stared at the table in wonder.

TO BE CONTINUED 

Leave your reviews at the door on the way out. Thank you


	9. Unexpected Invitation

Chapter Nine: Unexpected Invitation

The library was dead silent save for quiet whispering. Tracing his finger along the books, Duo searched for books on Egyptian mythology while carrying a small selection he had already found. Over by the large windows was a cluster of tables. Yume was taking haste notes at one of the tables; quickly flipping through the pages of the books Duo brought her. Dark clouds hung overhead outside. The rain has ceased for the moment but threatened to continue. Biting into her pencil while pausing momentarily, Yume sighed. Mr. Jones made the deadline for the report on Tuesday, only a couple days from now. Examining her notes and getting to her feet, Yume glanced around for Duo.

"Duo!" She whispered insistently.

"What?" Came the quiet reply from a nearby book aisle.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." She said quietly while not making eye contact with Duo. "I think I've got enough notes so I'll just try and type up the report at home."

Waiting a little bit before replying, Duo noticed something different about Yume. "Okay… are you sure you're okay? You look really down."

"It's none of your god damn business, rat!" Yume raised her voice defensively.

"Shhh!" snarled the librarian.

"Whoa, sorry. You do what you want." Duo raised his arms and backed away.

Yume picked up her books and left the library in a hurry. The library was fairly peaceful and Duo was bored, so he decided to just hang out. But at the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder about Yume. Then again, he didn't know what it was like to be in her shoes so he couldn't justify judging her.

"Shindou! Bring me that book!" A small girl voice ordered.

"Okay!" another girl replied cheerfully. "But you can just call me Satori-chan."

Behind him were two young girls, about nine or ten. One of them wore a sophisticated dress that made her look very mature while the other just wore a cute elementary level school uniform from Yukiro Academy.

The _mature_ girl scoffed. "I don't address you like that in public because you are my slave, remember?"

"Really Naoko-chan?" Satori brought the book Naoko wanted. "But why am I your slave? Can't I just be your friend?"

"_Baka_! I said only in public." Naoko snapped.

"Only what in public?" Satori wondered.

"You're only my slave in public." Naoko explained slowly as if talking to a child half her age.

Two chestnut brows furrowed together, Duo didn't really like the way Satori was getting treated. "Hey you!" He pointed to Naoko. "That's not very nice, the way you're treatin' that girl."

Naoko examined Duo with a bored expression. "Mind your own business, peasant. I am just commanding my slave." Satori smiled like a gullible fool.

"What did you call me!?" Duo yelled while people around him shushed.

"Peasant! Peasant! Peasant! Nyah!" Naoko stuck her tongue out at Duo.

"I'll have you know I'm called the Prince at Yukiro academy!" Duo boasted while once again getting shushed.

"But this isn't Yukiro academy, now _is_ it? So I can walk all over you, peasant." Naoko turned back to Satori. "Let us go, we must have afternoon tea."

Satori jumped for joy then followed Naoko like a lost dog. "We are? Does tea taste good?"

"_Baka_! I was using the royal 'we'." Naoko sighed. "I must find a smarter slave. It's hard to believe you are ten while I am only nine."

"That's just not right! Using a poor girl and taking advantage of her-" Duo cut off because for one a nasty thought crossed his mind and two, he started to follow the two girls but tripped on a stray book. "Oof!" Duo fell forward and instantly grabbed the nearest object for support… that just happened to be Satori and Naoko. Falling on top of the two girls, Duo panicked because one, he might've crushed the poor girls and two, people around them were whispering and calling Duo a pervert, and three he practically hugged them and he couldn't transform in public! Naoko gasped and sat straight up. Six surprised eyes met as the realization dawned on Duo that he wouldn't transform and it hit him like the book about to fall off the shelf. "Wait! You two must be, ouch! Damn it! Where'd that book come from?" Told ya. "You two must be cursed by the zodiac two!"

"That's wonderful!" Satori smiled and hugged Duo.

"To think that I share the same curse as a peasant, how terrible." Naoko complained.

"Don't make me hurt you, brat!" Duo clenched his fist. "So what year are the two of you?"

"The horse for me, tee hee." Satori giggled.

"The ram for me." Naoko sighed. "Well, now that you know, we must be on our way!" Naoko stood, dusted herself off and left the library with Satori at her heels.

"Very strange indeed… I just keep meeting more and more people cursed by the zodiac." Duo finally decided to leave the library too. He needed to do some stuff at home anyway.

Cunning Prussian blue eyes followed Duo as he left and decided to make a quick call on his cell phone number. (A/N: What is Heero? Duo's stalker?! o.O;;)

At Duo's house…

Duo dragged a large bag of trash outside, grumbling. "Why do I have to do all the friggin' chores around here?" He heaved the bag into the garbage can on the curb. A cold drop of light rain landed on his hand and rolled off. More started to follow in a downpour while Duo lifted his eyes to the cloudy skies.

"One shouldn't stand idly in the rain." Someone said quietly and tapped on Duo's shoulder.

Jumping and whipping around, Duo came face to face with Trowa Barton. "Trowa?! What're you doing here?"

"Delivering an invitation." Trowa lifted the collar of his gray trench coat.

"Invitation?" Duo repeated and scratched his wet head in confusion.

Trowa's green eyes stared off into space while he recited his message. "Quatre invites you to spend the night at his house. Heero and I will also be attending. Heero _insists_ that you come." Retrieving something from his trench coat pocket and placing it in Duo's hand Trowa turned and walked off. "The address is on that card." His back disappeared in the now pouring rain.

"Duo! Get back in here before you catch pneumonia!" Duo's mother called.

TO BE CONTINUED

Hey, thanks for reading! Sorry for the shortness. For those of you who enjoy my stories, go to: read my original stories. I'm in a writing slump, but reviews really inspire me. So please review on your way out!


	10. Backstories

Whoops! I forgot to put up bios for Naoko and Satori! Ritsu impersonation I'm so sorry!

Satori Shindou

Sign: horse

Age: 10

Year in school: 5th

Crush: Takei

"I understand" 

Naoko Takenaka

Sign: sheep

Age: 9

Year in school: 4th

Crush: Momiji

"You're my new slave!" 

Chapter Ten: Back-stories

Duo recoiled as his mother fussed over him.

"Ouch! Stop pulling on my hair; I'm tender headed y'know! My God what's wrong with you, woman?!" Duo hollered.

"Oh be quiet!" His mother hissed. "It wouldn't be so painful if you would cut your hair." She gave an extra yank to his hair while re-braiding it.

"Hell no! Anything but my hair!" Duo whined while pulling his finished braid out of his mother's hands to stroke slowly. "My precious…"

"_Anything_, eh? Even your you-know-what?" An evil grin couldn't help but curl on her lips as a loud thunder clapped outside.

Backing away slowly, Duo gave his mother a death glare. "You're a _very_ sick woman." Trowa's message suddenly reiterated itself in Duo's mind. "Mom, I've been invited to someone's house for the night."

Dinner was starting to get cooked. "Okay, but take an umbrella."

The rain didn't seem to want to stop. Something didn't quite feel right because normally it never rained this late in the year. Large droplets of freshwater thumped on Duo's black umbrella. On his way there, he walked passed Heero's neighborhood and shuddered. The memories of their first time together flooded back into his mind, vividly. Second place he passed was Yume's neighborhood. It was dark, quiet with only the sound of the rain, and deserted. Pausing for a second, he hoped she was doing well. As if on cue, he could've pledged he saw Yume step out of her apartment onto her balcony with some white-haired dude. But an instant later they were gone. Who was that guy? His hair was too short for him to be Ayame. But Duo didn't think he'd ever seen that guy at school. A strong gust of wind chilled Duo, making him hurry to Quatre's house.

The address led the chestnut-haired American to a large white house that could've only been owned by someone with a HUGE pocketful of cash.

"This can't be the right address…" Duo double-checked. Sure enough, it was.

Quatre must be friggin' rich! He lives in a mansion 100 times bigger than Yume's apartment complex! Not bad for a sixteen-year-old dude. Duo had trouble picking up his jaw from the ground long enough to ring the doorbell at the front gate.

"Ah, yes. Mr. Maxwell." The speaker acknowledged in a snobbish tone. "Master Quatre has been awaiting your arrival. Please continue forward to the front door." Aw, gee, well duh! The gate opened slowly and Duo wondered if he would freeze to death before it admitted him.

Since the gate was taking so long, Duo squeezed through the gate at the first possible chance and ran to the front door. Banging the large doorknocker several times before it was opened, Duo jumped inside and stood shivering. Apparently the umbrella didn't help much.

"Duo! It's very nice to meet you for the first time." The platinum blonde Quatre jogged down a nearby spiral staircase and shook hands with Duo.

Nodding and putting on a weak smile because he was so cold and tired, Duo bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, er… Quatre."

Quatre's pleasant blue eyes seemed to be watching Duo closely with a slight air of suspicion, even though he hid it well. Spandex boy and hairstyle freak followed the blonde. Trying not to be offensive to the guy with the gun (not that he had it with him), Duo also bowed to Heero and Trowa. "Um… thanks for having me…" Duo added in a low tone. "I guess."

"Hn."

"Uh huh." Trowa seemed to just stare off into space again.

Quatre smiled warmly. "Well, let's go on up to my room. We can just do some… male bonding there."

Male bonding? What the hell? Hiding his confusion was difficult. But up the spiral staircase were several different halls lined with rooms. Quatre led them through one of the doors into his room and Duo had to scramble to pick up his jaw again. Quatre had a huge baby blue bed! Not only that but also several tall bookshelves and even a small entertainment center with a big screen TV, VCR, DVD player, and several game systems. There was also a brand new computer by Quatre's humongous closet. (A/N: I WANT QUATRE'S ROOM!!!)

"Wow…" Duo breathed.

"Yes, my father owns the Winner Corporation." Quatre explained while gesturing for them to take seats on the floor. Duo sat down and shivered. Exchanging glances with the others, Quatre got Duo a towel. "You should dry yourself off. And to do that quickly, it would help if you undid your hair and I can take your shirt to be dried in the laundry room." Quatre suggested.

"O-okay." Duo reluctantly took off his shirt and wrapped himself up in the towel after undoing his long braid _again_. Heero turned away and Duo imagined he saw him blushing. Quatre trotted off with Duo's shirt, leaving the door to his room wide open. Trowa was as empty and expressionless as always. "Sooo…" Duo trailed off in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

"I saw your mother before I left." Trowa startled Duo. "Is she your real mother?"

"Actually, no. I'm taken care of by my foster parents." Duo shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

A girl with platinum blonde hair burst into the room suddenly. "Oh! Hot boys! And all friends of my _Otouto-chan_!" The girl squealed even though she had to be four years older than Duo.

"One of Quatre's sisters…" Trowa grumbled.

"One?!" Duo exclaimed.

"Quatre has twenty-nine sisters." Trowa sighed.

"_Nani_?!" Duo squeaked.

"That's right!" Quatre's sister smiled and rushed at Duo. "Now give me a hug!"

"Wha-?! No!" Too late. Duo had been glomped by the older girl and with a puff of smoke; the little white rat was being squished to death. Duo couldn't really complain because he was getting squished by her rather large breasts, being the pervert he is. "Chu!"

Trowa's shoulders shook and he burst out laughing. The smallest smile spread on Heero's face. Panicking, Duo struggled to break free and run. His eyes started to swirl because of a lack of oxygen from Ms. Bust. Quatre's sister loosened her grip and looked down at Duo. "Don't worry. Quatre's a part of the zodiac curse, too."

"What?! Him too?" Duo was finally released and set down on his baggy pants.

She nodded and pointed at the other two. "So are Heero and Trowa."

"But how did you know I was?" Duo pawed his head in confusion.

"I saw you at the library." Heero answered quietly.

Duo's tiny eyes bulged. "You did?!" Heero nodded.

"Causing some trouble, I see Onee-san." Quatre returned with Duo's dry T-shirt.

She laughed innocently. "Of course not! But I'll be going now!" She hurried out of the room in a fit of giggles.

"Sorry about that Duo." Quatre set his shirt beside the petit rat. Another large puff of smoke erupted and Duo hurried to put his pants and shirt back on when he heard more giggling outside Quatre's door. "Get out!" Quatre yelled at the mob of sisters that came to watch Duo put his clothes back on. Heero decided it best to look out the window while Quatre slammed his door shut.

"Is it _that_ funny Trowa?" Quatre questioned while sitting back down. Trowa was rolling on the floor from laughter.

Duo felt really embarrassed after finally getting all his clothes back on. His cheeks were bright red and soon the laughter died away to another uncomfortable silence.

"You're so lucky Quatre…" Trowa trailed off after calming down from his fit of laughing.

"Really? Why's that Trowa?" Quatre looked curiously at Trowa who was staring at the floor, hunched over.

"Because…" Trowa began. "All of your sisters accept you and love you for your curse. And your father just pretends it doesn't exist and treats you like any normal teenager." He paused while everyone listened intently. "Whereas my family is the complete opposite. My parents divorced because of my "condition" of being cursed. So now I live with a drunken father while my mother and sister reject me…"

Quatre patted Trowa on the shoulder to comfort him. "You've been through a lot. And all this stress made you fail last year. It's okay. Catherine is really bitchy anyway."

"Catherine? Catherine Bloom?" Duo asked. Trowa nodded. "I agree with you, Quatre." Duo shuddered.

"All of you at least have parents of some kind. Mine died when I was little and I've been an orphan since." Heero stated quietly. Duo was surprised he was talking so much… well… more than his fragments.

All eyes turned on Duo and he assumed it was his turn to tell a sad tragic tale about his sucky life. "My original parents were shaky with the fact of me turning into a rat. So when I was eight and accidentally hugged a girl I liked, my parents couldn't handle it and I ran away here to be put into a foster home… haven't spoken to either of my parents since." Everyone was quiet for a while, thinking about how each of them being tied to the zodiac made their life miserable.

"So what year are the rest of you?" Duo asked, once again breaking the silence. Before anyone could answer, a loud crack of thunder boomed and vibrated through the whole mansion. The power went out and the darkness was impenetrable, the storm outside sounding more violent than ever.

"Crap…" the four of them groaned in unison.

TO BE CONTINUED

By the way, I'm not telling who the romantic pairs are going to be because that would spoil all the drama and surprise!


	11. Out of the Dark and into the Frying Pan

Chapter Eleven: Out of the Dark and into the Frying Pan

The dark was so dense it was like when you shut your eyes. Another flash of lightning illuminated the room temporarily. Quatre was huddled close to Trowa and Heero stood by the window looking out. A crack of thunder soon followed. Other than that, no one spoke. The silence was starting to aggravate Duo.

"The power went out…" He said lamely.

"And you thought?" Trowa's voice sounded like he was smirking at Duo.

"Well… what should we do?" Duo wondered.

"The servants will take care of it, so don't worry." Quatre reassured.

Another long silence passed and Duo started to daydream to keep himself from rambling.

The guy that was with Yume when Duo saw them on the balcony, resurfaced in duo's mind. Was he Yume's boyfriend? If so, he didn't look like he really deserved her. Wait a second! What the hell was he thinking?! Whether he deserved her or not was none of Duo's business. There was no reason for him to feel jealous. Duo blinked several times in the darkness trying to get his eyes to adjust faster. Or maybe… he was starting to like Yume as more than just a friend? That would explain why he kept thinking about her recently. And what about the way she acted at the library? It seemed to Duo like she was starting to act kind of weird around him. Maybe she was feeling the same way he was!!! Very doubtful though…

Duo sighed and he pictured Yume in his mind. Her shoulder length golden hair and cool blue bangs. She had a really nice figure too. Yume rarely smiled though, but when she did it could make you feel so much closer to her. Still half-daydreaming, Duo could almost feel her lips against his in a passionate kiss. The very warmth of her skin on his body. It was such a shame that he was cursed by the zodiac and she wasn't. Duo sighed again into someone else's mouth and snapped back to reality. Someone really was kissing him!!!

"Mmmf!" Duo shoved the person off of him. "What the hell?!"

Another flash of lightning revealed everyone in their same positions but now all staring at Duo.

"What's wrong Duo?" Quatre asked, concerned.

"The boogie monster or one of Quatre's sisters?" Trowa taunted.

"Hn?" Heero inquired.

"N-nothing." Duo felt himself turning a very deep red.

The power flickered and the lights came back on. Duo sighed in relief.

"Well, we have school tomorrow. Let's get some sleep." Quatre suggested. "Each of you has guest rooms. Or I should say Heero and Duo have a guest room." Quatre gave Trowa a grin. "Duo, yours is down the hall, second door. Heero, yours is the first door."

Heero nodded while Duo stood and walked quickly to his room, then locked the door. His mind was going a million miles per hour. He came to the conclusion that he should stay away from these guys for a while. Also deciding that he would ask Yume about that white haired guy, Duo turned off the lights and crept into bed, only to fall into a restless sleep. He dreamt about his parents, about Yume, and about Heero trying to kill him again because he loved Yume.

Early in the morning, earlier than Duo wished, he got up and left the Winner mansion before the others woke up. It was actually a sunny day and the morning chill forced anyone walking outside to wear a jacket. In fact, it was so cold that Duo could see his breath. Most of the leaves had already fallen from the trees and only a few clung desperately to the barren branches. The report was due tomorrow and Duo felt kind of bad for letting Yume do most of it herself.

Being so early to class, Duo had at least an hour to wait for anyone else to show up to school. Fatigue hit Duo full force. So he laid his head on the desk for a little nap. He started to snore lightly when the classroom sliding door was opened and shut. Duo lifted his head slightly to focus his eyes on the person interrupting his nap. At first glance he nearly had mistaken the person for a girl with short gray hair and purple eyes. They smiled warmly to Duo.

"Good morning. I wasn't expecting someone besides me to be here so early." He said in a quiet voice.

"Huh? I've never seen you in here before." Duo mumbled groggily.

"I just transferred to the A division, that's why I'm here so early. I'm Yuki Sohma." Yuki explained.

"Sohma? Does that mean you're related to Kyou, Shigure, Hatori, and Akito?" Duo noticed Yuki flinch at Akito's name.

Yuki nodded. "I'm surprised you've met them… but that must mean you're Duo Maxwell." Yuki confirmed.

"Yeah, what of it?"

Yuki's eyes narrowed. "I am cursed by the zodiac, along with several other members of my family." Yuki paused, still giving Duo a cold look. "You should avoid the Sohma family at all cost."

"What?!" Duo raised an eyebrow.

"Just avoid the Sohma family and it's dark curse at all costs." Yuki said in a final tone.

After that, Duo tried to get information out of Yuki but Yuki refused to say anything more on the matter. The homeroom class started to slowly fill up as the time passed. And once again, Duo had another thing to think about on his plate.

TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks Soul of the Green Dragon, I do try and get my chapters out quickly. But sometimes too quickly Any input at all?


	12. Paint War

I'd like to apologize to my faithful readers. I probably made you 1x2 fans upset with Chapter 11. Just have a little faith in me; I promise it won't end up that way… I mean with Duo loving Yume for too long!

Chapter Twelve: Paint War

There was great confusion amongst the fan girls. Who should be the real Prince? Relena and the rest of Duo's fan girls stared down at the Yuki Fan Club.

"Duo was Prince first!" Relena argued.

"Maybe in the A division, but not in the B division like Yuki." The Yuki Fan Club looked smugly at the other girls.

Yume was in a rather foul mood this morning and it showed. "Why does it matter? They both look like girls." Yuki ignored this comment and Duo looked down, his chestnut bangs covering his eyes.

All of the fan girls gave Yume glares. "Shut up, Blue Bangs!"

"Now, now, girls." Poor, small, quiet homeroom teacher, Fujii, tried to quell the fighting. "May we stop arguing and get on with class?"

"NO!"

The intercom interrupted the fighting with a loud crackle. "Will Yume Midori of class KA-3 please come to the front office? Yume Midori." Another crackled signified the end of the message.

Yume rose from her seat and grabbed her bag. "I wonder who I pissed off this time?" She grumbled as she trekked out of the room.

The first hour bell rang, everyone filed out, and Duo went to his first hour class, which was Art 1.

"Now class," the nutcase art teacher, Ms. Dressman said in her weird accent. (A/N: Based on my _real_ nutcase art teacher) "Clear off your surgery table so we can paint a beautiful portrait today."

The class, understanding that by surgery table she meant crappy and cruddy art table, set their stuff in the space under the tables.

"Now today, my children, I want you to put your heart and soul into your paintings today. You can start." Ms. Dressman sat at her desk and started talking to herself as if someone else was there.

Duo put on a paint apron so he wouldn't get his school uniform messy. Then he grabbed a paintbrush out of the can and some different colored paint. Everyone else around him started painting and would chat to their friends while he stared at the white paper.

"Maxwell! Next time I look at you, you better be working instead of staring off into La-la land!" Ms. Dressman snapped and jabbed a bony finger in Duo's direction.

Duo snapped out of his daze. "But it's only been a few minutes since you told us to start!" Duo said his excuse.

"Just work on your painting!" Ms. Dressman yelled. At this point the whole class was watching, some were even laughing.

"Whatever…" Duo muttered under his breath. He started painting something simple when another fight between fan girls broke out.

"Not again…" Yuki groaned.

Duo jumped when he realized the other rat was painting right next to him.

Ms. Dressman was completely oblivious to the argument at the next table from Duo but jerked her head to look at Duo. "Maxwell! Don't make me tell you to get to work again!"

Grinding his teeth, Duo lifted his dirty paintbrush and dragged it across the little painting he had started. The little house, tree, grass, and sky that he had painted now had a dirty brown line going from the top of the page to the bottom. Meanwhile, the shouting match continued to get louder. Other students were leaving their seats to form a circle around the girls to watch.

"Why don't you just go back to the B division where you came from, bitch?" Relena Peacecraft and Catherine Bloom shrieked.

"We're loyal servants to our Prince!" The president of the Yuki Fan Club shouted back. "Prince Yuki wanted to transfer so we followed!" The president fan girl snorted. "So much for being a pacifist, Relena!"

"That's _it_! You're in for it now, bitch!" Relena whipped around, accidentally whacking Duo in the head with her pink paint covered brush, and picked up a can of green paint.

The Yuki Fan Club gasped. "You wouldn't!"

Relena's mouth twisted into a hideous grin as she readied to launch the paint at the other girls. "Try me!" She threw the green paint and it splattered onto the Yuki Fan Club, who screamed.

Duo took the end of his apron and tried to wipe off the pink paint that was on his face off.

"Maxwell! I told you to paint something on the paper! Not on your _face_!" Ms. Dressman scowled.

Duo growled. "_Look_! It's not my damn fault! These stupid girls are the ones throwing the paint!" On cue, one of the Yuki fan girls threw yellow paint at Relena, Catherine, and the rest of Duo's groupies. In the process, they also splattered it on Duo's back and in his hair.

"Maxwell! Don't argue with me Mr.!" Ms. Dressman snarled, once again jabbing her bony finger at him.

The paint slinging fight continued in the background. "Ms. Dressman, it's not his fault." Yuki explained when purple paint was accidentally thrown onto him.

"It doesn't matter now, Mr. Sohma, he has no right to talk to me that way!" Ms. Dressman yelled at Yuki in a kinder tone… if that can be possible.

The girls were covered head to toe in paint but they had used up all their ammunition so Relena and the president of the Yuki Fan Club were tearing at each other with their harpy nails, biting with their fangs, and yanking on the other girls' hair.

"Maxwell!" Ms. Dressman screeched. "You have detention for making such a mess in my room!"

The catfight stopped as all the girls looked at Duo and Yuki.

Duo sighed in exasperation. "It's not my fault, damn it!"

"Get out of my room! I want you back here after school to clean up this mess!" Ms. Dressman ordered.

"Excuse me, Ms. Dressman, but the mess was caused by these girls that stand behind us." Yuki explained calmly.

"Maxwell! Peacecraft! Bloom! Sohma! Minagawa! All of you have detention! Now get _out_!"

The five of them trudged out silently. Yuki was disappointed that his trying to calm down the teacher had not worked. Duo and Yuki went into the boys locker room to change and get cleaned up.

TO BE CONTINUED

I've set myself a new record. This is my longest story and I have 33 reviews for this story alone! Not as much as my A New Dark Tournament story but hey!


	13. Everything is a tangle of knots

Hey Soul of Green Dragon, I understand how you'd rather read the main story instead of the mini chapters. points to her friend I blame you Kyou-chan! Anyway, I plan on changing the mini chapters into an actual story soon. goes and hides in a hole, feeling ashamed

Chapter Thirteen: Everything is a tangle of knots

"Damn it! This shitty paint just won't come out of my hair!" Duo was hunched over a sink in the boys' locker room, washing out his hair before he changed into another school uniform.

"Must you use such foul language?" Yuki was drying his hair with a towel.

"Yes! As a matter of fact, I do. It's your fault that that fight started in the art room, and now we have detention…" Complained Duo while scratching his scalp to get the paint out.

Yuki sighed and left the locker room in search of another school uniform. After washing his hair at least eight times, Duo finally got all the paint out. He dried his hair in a towel and strode out of the locker room in the direction of the laundry room. Turning a corner he ran into Yume, who pushed Duo away before he transformed into a rat.

"You got me all covered in paint now!" Yume growled.

"Sorry!" Duo apologized sincerely.

Relena peeked her head out of the girls' bathroom but neither Duo nor Yume saw her there. "Oh well, at least you didn't transform in the hallway, that would be hard to explain." Yume sighed and rubbed her head as if she didn't feel well.

"You okay?" Duo inquired with concern, lifting his hand to try and help Yume in some way.

Brushing his hand aside roughly, Yume gave Duo a sharp look. "Leave me alone. It's none of your business. Why should you care anyway?" Yume started pacing to the nearest exit out of the school, wiping off what paint she could with tissues.

"Maybe because I _do_ care!" Duo snapped and tried to follow Yume.

Yume spun around and looked down into Duo's cobalt blue eyes. "I suggest that you forget about me before you hurt yourself."

"Huh?" That didn't make any sense to Duo at all. But before Duo could question her more she barged out of the school.

Guilt swelled up inside him. Duo didn't mean to get Yume so angry. What was her problem today? Maybe it had something to do with her being called into the office? The only sound that echoed through the halls was Duo's feet dragging along on the ground. Washing his hair had taken so long that it was already halfway through second hour. Proves just how bad the paint is. The laundry room smelled very clean and Duo changed into a spotless school uniform. Not motivated to get to class in a hurry, Duo trudged through the halls until the third hour bell rang.

"Maxwell!" Someone snapped when Duo entered his third hour class.

"What _now_?" Duo groaned and sat at his desk.

"Pathetic Maxwell, I heard you got detention for finger painting with nutcase Ms. Dressman." Wufei sneered.

Duo glared at Wufei through his long bangs. "Piss off, Chang. Don't you have other people to bother or too afraid a Yankee chick will stop by and kick your ass?" Duo grinned smugly when he saw that he had gotten to Wufei.

"No…" Wufei walked right past Duo without meeting his eye and muttered. "Just wanted to apologize for the other day…" Wufei sat at a desk near the back of the class along with a couple of his thickheaded cronies. When Duo whipped around to gape at Wufei was looking out the window.

Around the middle of last hour, Duo came to the decision that he would stop by Yume's apartment that evening to try to find out what was wrong.

There was a chilly breeze that afternoon. Most of the leaves were fallen and dead by this point. Duo stared up at the sky daydreaming while he kept his hands warm in his jacket pockets. Several things were making him wonder today, like about Wufei apologizing to him. Last time Duo checked, that wasn't the type of thing Wufei would be caught dead doing. Yume was also acting strange, sure she could be a real bitch sometimes but she was being colder than usual. And what about what Mr. Perfect, Prince Charming Yuki, had said. Why should Duo stay away from the Sohmas? I mean, sure, they were slightly nuts, what with Shigure and Hatori kidnapping him and Akito scaring the shit out of him. Plus Kyou, always trying to pick a fight with him. Well… okay, maybe there were several reasons why Duo wouldn't want to go near the Sohmas. But Yuki didn't have to order him around.

Something caught Duo's foot and the concrete sidewalk came up and met Duo's face with a loud thud. "Ownch… " Duo slowly picked himself up off the concrete and blood dripped down his nose. Speaking of his nose, it was a little smashed in but not broken.

"Ahhh… the sweet scent of someone's blood. It reminds me of a certain day when I smashed pottery into someone's eye…" A voice whispered from the twilight shadows.

A violent shiver went down Duo's spine, but the source of the voice couldn't be found. "Holy shit… what was that…?" Wide and frightened cobalt blue eyes scanned the area but the street was empty.

"Hey Yume-chan!" Gin called from the balcony above. "The rat boy is down below! And oh my god! He's hurt! Call 911!" Duo sweat dropped at Gin. "Can… you… hear…me? He's dying Yume-chan, hurry!"

Looking up at the balcony, Duo saw Yume lean over the balcony in a hurry and look down to see everything was fine. Agitated at Gin for being summoned in such a manner for nothing, Yume gave Gin a dirty look and disappeared from the balcony. A moment later she was stepping out of the apartment complex and leading Duo in to stop his nosebleed.

"Why are you here?" Yume demanded while forcing him to tilt his head back and gave him a tissue to hold up to his nose.

"Um… uh… well… er… I was worried… and I wanted to see if you were done with the report…" Duo explained lamely.

"Why should you worry about a tough chick like Yume?" asked a quiet voice of someone Duo didn't recognize behind him. Duo leaned his head back further to see an upside down face with no expression. This guy looked about fifteen and had white hair with a black hairline. Suddenly the memory of Yume and the white haired guy replayed in Duo's mind. Who was this guy?

"Well… I guess I shouldn't went you put it that way…" Duo narrowed his eyes at this punk. "I don't think we've had the _pleasure_ of meeting before. I'm Duo Maxwell." Duo gritted his teeth.

"Hatsuharu Sohma." Hatsuharu looked down on Duo. "You might want to stop leaning your head back so far or you'll red out."

"Red out?" Duo stopped looking at Haru upside down and turned to face him.

"It's when all your blood rushes to your head and you faint." Haru explained simply.

Gin had been unusually quiet, which was something Duo picked up on right away. She looked up when she saw Duo staring at her and then looked away.

A folder with papers in it was shoved into Duo's face. "There's the damn report since you care so much." Yume snapped.

"Huh? What?" Duo blinked several times.

"Just get out." Yume turned away from him and stood beside Hatsuharu. "And I suggest you stop chasing after me."

Duo furrowed his brow. "Look, damn it! I can't help it if I feel this way about you!"

Hatsuharu gave Duo a dark look before he snapped. "Ever think that Yume might be taken?! You are such a pansy! At least walk out of here like a man with your head high! You're bothering her enough anyway!"

This caught Duo by surprise. Hatsuharu didn't seem very violent when they first met, sarcastic but not violent. Duo backed away. Gin looked over at him sympathetically. "Duo, get out of here before Black Haru beats up on you!"

Duo backed away further and decided to take Gin's advice. He left in a hurry but not like when Heero was shooting at him. Come to think of it, him and Hatsuharu had the same kind of temper. Duo stared down at the sidewalk while walking home. Things were getting too complicated. Why did things have to be so confused and mixed up? Things just keep building up, but hopefully someday, it'll all add up…

TO BE CONTINUED

Sorry about the chapter, I'm really tired while writing it. Any suggestions or comments for me? You know what to do if you do.


	14. On the way to the banquet

Well, I'm back from Japan, and very tired. But I'm going to try and wrap up the story soon.

Chapter Fourteen: On the way to the banquet

The weather simply got colder as October melted into November, followed by December and before Duo realized it, it was New Years Eve. Things at school weren't much different. Wufei occasionally taunted him but that was becoming more rare recently. Heero never really spoke to Duo but kind of watched him from afar along with his friends Trowa and Quatre. Relena and the rest of 'Prince' Duo's groupies fought fiercely with the Prince Yuki Fan Club. Yume and Gin never seemed to be around anymore. Especially Yume, she was missing a lot of school and would surely fail again if she didn't stop skipping. Yuki barely talked to Duo and Duo didn't like being with any of the Sohmas anymore since his encounter with Hatsuharu.

A two-inch blanket of snow covered the ground and in multiple yards, small children were having snowball fights, building snow forts and snowmen. The white fluff crunched under Duo's snow boots. The cold air was crisp and clean but the wind would bite at the bare skin. Duo leaned against a brick wall and watched everything around him. It was a good thing Duo had gotten over Yume quickly, even though he was still a little jealous of Hatsuharu. Duo sighed and pushed himself away from the wall so he could walk up his driveway. Apparently the mailman had already stopped by his house, because letters were sticking out of the mailbox. He lifted the lid and yanked out the wad of letters out. Then he went inside so he could warm up.

The light paper envelopes were tossed onto the kitchen table as Duo flipped through them and warmed his feet with the electric heater under the table. Duo paused suddenly when he saw his name printed in neat handwriting on the front of a plain white letter. He set down the rest of the junk mail and slipped his finger under the tab, tearing it open. The letter inside was the same as the envelope, plain and white. A small map was also included with directions on how to get there. Duo read it carefully, wondering who would send him the letter.

_Dear Duo Maxwell,_

_I humbly invite you to the Sohma Mansion for the New Years banquet. Come to the mansion tonight, alone. You will be required to stay for three days. _

_Head of the Sohma family,_

_Sohma Akito_

Duo's heart stopped. Akito was inviting him to the Sohma mansion after kicking him out last time? That sounded fishy and plus Yuki had told Duo to stay away from the Sohmas. But since when did Duo listen to Yuki? Duo skimmed through the short letter again and had a bad feeling. This would definitely have to be responded with a "hell no." A word on the letter caught his eye, banquet.

Banquet = lots of food = a HELL YES!

"Mom!" Duo yelled upstairs while still warming his feet. "I'm going to er… a _friend's_ house to stay for three days!"

"Okay honey! Have a good time and don't stay up too late!" His mother yelled back in a cheerful voice upstairs. Duo paused, wondering if his mother was an idiot or anything. Packing a small bag, Duo slipped his snow boots back on, wrapped a scarf around his neck and headed out the door, map in hand. The walk to the mansion was pretty long. Duo had to stop about half way to rest his legs. Everywhere he went, families seemed very busy with the New Years preparations. With his cold, numb hand, Duo reached into the pocket of his heavy jacket and pulled out the crumpled map and address. He barely glanced at it when a snowball was thrown into his face. The cold snow bit at his face making it even number. Duo looked around angrily for the snowball pitcher. Hilde Schbeiker peeked over a fence at Duo.

"I'm sorry! Did I hit you with that snowball?" She asked with concern.

Duo wiped all the wet snow off his face with his sleeve. "Just a little…" he answered sarcastically.

"I'm really sorry… hey, aren't you Duo Maxwell from school? They call you the Prince, right?" Hilde folded her arms on the snow-covered wall and laid her head down looking at Duo with her deep blue eyes.

"That's me all right." Duo thrust his cold thumbs into his pockets.

"Sounds stuck-up to me." Hilde observed.

Duo foot slipped slightly on some ice under the snow. "R-really? Well… it's not like I really chose to be the Prince of the school, from what I hear, Yuki Sohma was Prince Charming first."

Hilde's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like an excuse to me. And hear I thought the rumors about you being a different person were true."

"Huh? You lost me…" Duo scratched his head. What rumors? He hadn't heard of any.

"This is mostly just among a small group of students. Some say that the Prince, Duo Maxwell, is no longer the spoiled brat he was earlier this year. But rumors usually aren't true…" Hilde sat up straight and disappeared again behind the wall.

What the hell was that about? Duo felt like the girl he had had a crush on since third or fourth grade had just stabbed him in the back. Duo didn't think he had changed much but he didn't think he was a spoiled brat either. Then again, at the beginning of the school year, Duo felt like a god who had girls worship his feet. He also got in trouble a lot at school because of his attitude. But since Heero shot at him, Duo had gone a little quiet at school. Maybe he did change…

"Hey Duo-_kun_."

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, in which Duo (thinking it was Hilde) apologized for being the way he was.

"What are you apologizing for? You're the one and only Prince of Yukiro Academy." Relena Peacecraft smiled in her preppy, girly way.

Duo jumped at seeing Relena's face. "When did you get here?!"

Relena's smile grew wider, but her face looked like it was contorting with pain. (A/N: I don't like Relena… mwahahahahahahah!) "Oh Duo my love! It's so nice of you to ask about me! Let's spend New Years together." Relena grabbed onto Duo's arm and Duo tried to pry her off.

"I'm not your love! And let go of me! I'm going some where else for New Years!" Duo yanked harder and even tried to kick his foot against Relena to give himself traction to break free.

"You already have plans?" Relena burst into tears trying to act pathetic.

"Damn it! Let go of me, woman!" Duo growled and he tried shoving her away again but her grip was too tight.

Relena's expression changed completely and now she looked like she was up to something evil and Duo knew he would regret it. "So Duo-_kun_, just what do you transform into exactly?"

Duo's feet were frozen to the ground, his arm was severely frost bitten, or Relena was just cutting off the circulation to his arm but either way, Duo froze and couldn't move. "Wha-what?" Duo stammered.

"That's right." Relena moved closer to his ear. "I heard all about how you transform."

Duo's eyes were wide in fright. If Relena knew, then half the school would find out! Did Duo have to move again like he did when he was eight?

"I'll make you a deal." Relena whispered in the twilight air. "If you will go out with me, no one will hear about this. It'll be our little secret…" Relena smiled most deviously.

Duo's voice didn't seem to want to work. What should he do? He hated Relena, but what if she told the entire school? He'd have to move far away again. Then again, it didn't really matter… Duo didn't have any friends… so why should he care if he moved somewhere else and start a new life again? Just when he had found his voice and was going to tell Relena that he would just move, but Heero's voice was refreshed in his memory.

_"Maxwell is becoming a nicer person than you'll ever be!"_

Maybe he did have something worth holding onto here. Duo decided he would try and prove to everyone that he was no longer the brat everyone mistook him for.

"Go to hell, Peacecraft." Duo shoved her away finally and she was shocked by his reaction. "I don't care if the whole damn school finds out, I'll just prove to them all that I'm a decent guy, even if it means I have to give up the title of Prince." Duo started walking to the Sohma mansion again and didn't look back at the baffled Relena. Okay, maybe he would try and be nice but not start with Relena.

"Oh _yeah_! Well…" Relena thought for a moment. "I _will_ tell the whole school what a freak you are and make you never want to come back to Yukiro academy again!"

Duo just shrugged and continued on his way. Relena let out a shriek of aggravation and stormed off only to slip on a patch of ice.

The sun was setting when Duo stood in front of the gates to the Sohma mansion. The doors opened and Yuki faced Duo with a serious expression. "Duo Maxwell, you should leave now, while you still can."

TO BE CONTINUED

I have yet to see what the main point of this story was… hmmm… oh well.


	15. Chaos at the Banquet

Soul Green Dragon: munches on cookies and burps thanks for the cookies

Maili-chan: I wasn't actually intending for Relena to be a part of the zodiac because I hate her guts. But once you think about it the story would get far more interesting if she was. May she burn in hell! Mwahahahahahahahahah!

Shinimegami-Rin: Japan was great! And I don't think you told me that before.

Jupiter Night: Thanks for the compliment

Luna: I'm definitely continuing.

Chapter Fifteen: Chaos at the banquet!

Duo laughed. "Stop ordering me around. I'm only here because I heard there was food!"

"You'll be biting off more than you can chew." Yuki warned.

"_Really_? The food is _that_ good?" Duo's eyes had stars in them. Yuki fell anime style.

"What an idiot…"

Ignoring his comment, Duo walked past Yuki and into the courtyard of the Sohma estate. He was led to a large room in the main house with a huge table. The table could seat a total of twenty-six people if need be. Akito was sitting at the head of the table. Yuki took the seat on Akito's left.

Akito had a taunting smile on his face and turned to Duo. "The other rat has arrived. This is your seat." He pointed to the seat on his right. "The rest of the zodiac will sit in order that their animal appears in the zodiac."

Uneasily, Duo took the seat on Akito's right and looked around. It seemed all the Sohmas were sitting across from Duo. Turning to his right, Duo jumped and made a small squeak when he saw Heero Yuy there. The noise caught Heero's attention and his head turned around to face Duo then turned back. Was it just his imagination or did Heero just slightly smile at Duo? A certain white-haired and black-hairline guy caught Duo's eye. Hatsuharu was sitting on Yuki's left! In the presence of both the short tempered nut cases, Duo's stomach churned until he thought he would pass out. But this was how the seating arrangement was: on Heero's right sat a guy Duo didn't even recognize. Then Quatre was next, then… Wufei?! Duo's jaw dropped, he couldn't believe Wufei was actually a part of the zodiac curse! Next to Wufei was, Gin, Satori, Naoko, Fujika, Nori, Trowa, and finally… Relena?! Duo's worst nightmare was sitting in the same room as him! And how was she a part of the zodiac curse too? Thinking back to their encounter a few minutes ago, he remembered Relena hanging on to him and he didn't transform. If he hadn't been in such a hurry to get away from her, this would have occurred to him earlier. Then again… if she was a part of the curse, why would she threaten to tell the whole school about Duo when she was cursed also. A thought occurred to him. What if, in all of Relena's sad and pathetic life, no boy had ever wanted to hug her and therefore she never found out she was cursed. Who would want to hug Relena anyway?

But on the Sohma side, there were fewer people that Duo recognized. After Hatsuharu there was a little girl with orange hair, a young blonde boy that looked like a girl, the silent Hatori, the he/she Ayame, a teenage girl with long dark hair, a junior high school boy with light brown hair and a big mouth, a frail man with long orange hair, a man with reddish brown hair, Shigure, and a teenage girl with short brown hair. Also at the very end of the table sat Kyou. The seating arrangements didn't exactly please Duo. Yuki also looked very uncomfortable, particularly because he had to sit next to Akito. Then it hit him! Duo knew why Yuki didn't like Akito and that was because Yuki was Akito's sex slave! Feeling proud of himself for figuring out this false information, Duo folded his arms and waited.

Luckily for Duo, neither Wufei nor Relena noticed his presence. Gin was too busy chatting with Satori and Naoko; Heero, Quatre, and Trowa didn't talk to Duo anyway.

"LISTEN UP, DAMN IT!!!" Akito slammed his fist onto the table and the room replied by jumping in fright and ceasing their talking. "Tell me all of your names, starting with Yuki here." His evil grin turned to face Yuki on his left.

"Yuki Sohma." Yuki stated, evident fear in his eyes.

"Hatsuharu Sohma." Haru answered quietly.

"Kisa Sohma." The orange haired girl smiled.

"Momiji Sohma! Nice to meetcha!"

"Hatori Sohma…"

"Ayame but you can call me, Aya." Ayame winked.

"Rin Sohma."

"Hiro Sohma…"

"R-ritsu… Sohma."

"Kureno Sohma."

"Shigure Sohma!" Shigure sang.

"Kagura Sohma."

"Kyou-"

"NOW, for the special guests!" Akito interrupted Kyou as if he was non-existent which to Akito would probably make sense because Kyou's is the cat.

"Duo Maxwell!" Duo puffed out his chest still proud about finding out his false information.

"Heero Yuy… hn."

"Bob."

"Quatre Raberba Winner… try saying that ten times in a row!"

"Wufei Chang."

"Gin Akigawa!"

Everyone introduced themselves down the line until it was Relena's turn.

"What's my name again?" Relena asked. Everyone ignored her.

Kyou tried to introduce himself again. "Kyou-"

"NOW!" Akito interrupted for the second time. "Usually there is a special dance by the person who's year it is. BUT, since we have our _special_ guests… we will have… no dance at all because I hate you ALL!!!" Akito spat suddenly, alarming everyone. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" Akito yelled at a random bowl. "YOU THINK _YOU_ CAN SOLVE THE ZODIAC CURSE!!! DO YOU?!"

Hatori got up from his seat and pulled out a shot from his pocket, approaching the furious Akito he stuck the needle into the first spot available (which was Akito's leg because he was about to kick Hatori). Instantly, Akito slumped onto the table, scattering food and there he stayed. A little white bird (you know the one that Akito always has around) flew into the room and landed on Akito's back, crapping on him. The bird crap ran down Akito's back and towards his face, which was covered in random bits of food.

Everyone groaned in disgust. Then Akito mumbled, "Birdie, birdie on my back, will you take your droppings back? It looks like sugar; it tastes like sap, OH MY GOD! IT'S BIRDIE CRAP!!!" Akito yelled.

Duo crinkled his nose and sighed. Well this was going to be a pain…

TO BE CONTINUED

Okay, I know my chapters are just getting stupid… but I've suddenly got the inspiration to make fun of everything shrugs

Also... I am co-authoring another Fruits Basket fic with my friend Kyou-chan. So to read it just go to: www.fanfiction.net/otakucorp


	16. Duo's hunt for cheese

To Aya: Actually, Kyou is one of my favorite characters. But he's still fun to pick on.

Chapter Sixteen: Duo's hunt for cheese

Well… very few had the appetite to eat after watching Akito get crapped on. So some wrinkly old ladies shooed everyone into rooms for bed. Duo got shoved into a room with Bob, who seemed pretty ordinary despite his curse.

"So… your name's Bob, right?" Duo asked, always being the first to strike up a conversation because he's a sad case that doesn't like silence.

"Bob…" Bob replied while staring at a paper wall as if it was the most interesting thing next to Saturday Night Live.

"Bob what?" Duo persisted.

"BOB!" Bob bellowed.

"Erm… okay." Duo scratched his head. "Are you still in school?"

"Bob…"

"Okay BOB! I understand! Can you say any other frickin' words besides BOB?!" Duo hollered. "You remind me of those lame pokemon that only say their name! Is that what you are BOB?!"

"Bob!" Bob squeaked and tried to run out of the room but ran into the door.

"_Oi_?" Duo prodded Bob with a stick but he didn't move. "Um… yeah… I think I'll leave the room for a while!" Duo jumped over Bob, opened the door, and ran down the hallway.

The Sohma mansion was really big so Duo being the dumb little rat he is, got lost in the maze of hallways and doors. Why did they have to share rooms anyway if the house was so big? But anyway, he smelled food cooking somewhere in the Sohma maze and suddenly wanted to eat some cheese because he's the dumb little rat. He followed the scent to a dead end. Well it wasn't exactly a dead end otherwise the smell wouldn't have led him there. There were three doors. But which one would Duo pick?! This decision was too hard for Duo's little brain to handle so he screamed and then picked a door. Duo opened the first door and saw Akito standing with his back to Duo.

"Stupid family! How dare I humiliate myself like that!" Akito's voice changed. "We'll get them, won't we precious? We'll kill them all!" Akito turned around, stroking a teddy bear that he was talking to and froze when he saw Duo standing there. "How long have you been there?!"

"Um…" Duo was stunned by the teddy bear in Akito's hands.

"Forget I asked!" Akito snapped. "I command you to forget everything you just saw!" Akito pointed to Duo, angrily.

"Gladly." Duo slammed the door and opened the next one.

"Duo-_kun_!" Relena squealed gleefully and started prancing over to Duo.

"Ack! How can you remember my name when you can't remember your own?!" Duo slammed the door again and opened the next one hoping that it was where the cheese was.

Heero Yuy looked up at Duo, his 9mm in one hand and some cheese in the other.

"MEEP!" Duo squeaked, paralyzed with fear.

"Hn?" Heero saw Duo glancing from the cheese to the 9mm in his other hand and guessed what had brought Duo here. "Cheese?"

"Y-yes…" Duo's voice was about an octave higher because… well? Wouldn't _you_ be scared of Heero with his 9mm?

"Here." Heero tossed Duo the cheese.

Duo caught it happily, almost forgetting Heero was holding a gun, and his eyes got all starry. "_Domo arigato gozaimasu_!" Duo ran out of the room cheerfully and decided he would find a nice little secret place to eat his cheese so no one would take it from him.

Somebody turned the corner and ran into Duo, making him drop his cheese, and then stepped on it.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! MY CHEESE!!!" Duo cried.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!! GOMEN NASAI!!! I'M SO SORRY THAT I RAN INTO YOU AND MADE YOU DROP YOUR PRECIOUS CHEESE! I SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO LIVE!!! I'M SO SORRY! I APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD FOR MY EVER BEING BORN!!!" Gee, I wonder who that was?

Duo was still crying because of his cheese but recognized the person he had run into. "Hey… your Ritsu aren't you?"

"GOMEN NASAI!!! I'M SO SORRY THAT I AM SO WORTHLESS THAT YOU KNOW MY NAME-!"

"Isn't that an oxymoron?" Duo pondered.

"FORGIVE ME!!! I SHOULD BE STRUCK DOWN FOR EVER COMING INTO THIS WORLD AND BEING SUCH A PROBLEM!!!"

Duo was starting to get a migraine from the endless yelling and screaming coming from Ritsu. But who should come to the rescue? Shigure! Now he can do his special poke in the ribs to make Ritsu shut up!

"Looks like Rii has gone into another fit of apologies." Shigure sighed and poked Ritsu under the ribs with his fan. Ritsu collapsed onto the floor quietly and Shigure continued on his way to Akito's room. Why was he going there? Who knows, but we can only imagine…

Duo walked back down the hallway in search of some more cheese. There was a door ajar ahead of Duo and inside was a table with one piece of cheese on it. Yuki came walking down the hallway from the other end. Both rats looked at each other and looked back at the cheese. Two stupid rats think alike after all. Duo ran to the cheese and so did Yuki at the exact same moment. Duo grabbed one side and Yuki grabbed the other, both yanking on it.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Kyou asked while entering the kitchen to get some milk to drink.

"Shut up you, _baka neko_." Yuki muttered while still glaring at Duo.

"None of your business, Kyou!" Duo hissed, not taking his eyes off Yuki.

"Damn it! Learn some manners! I'll take you both down!" Kyou yelled.

Duo pulled out a bag of green, ground up plants while still pulling on his end of the cheese. "Take that! It's cat nip so just leave us alone!"

"All right! Cat nip!" Kyou sniffed the bag. "HEY! This is WEED!"

"I've been looking for that… but it's close enough to cat nip!" Duo stated while still distracted by Yuki.

"Whatcha doin'?" Momiji hopped into the room. Seeing Yuki and Duo fighting over the cheese, Momiji smiled a big smile. "We're playing tug-o-war? Yay!" Momiji grabbed a part of the cheese and Yuki and Duo were so surprised they both released the cheese and Momiji ran away with his prize.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! MY CHEESE!!!!" Yuki and Duo both exclaimed.

Hatori entered the kitchen with a not-so-amused look on his face. "All of you should be in bed."

"But I was hungry!" Duo complained after his stomach gave a low growl.

"That's what the banquet was for." Said Hatori.

Duo sighed. Tired, hungry, and cheeseless, Duo went back to his room. Bob was still lying on the floor and Duo poked him with a stick again. Bob twitched slightly. Duo shrugged and went to bed, unaware of the eyes staring at him through the darkness…

TO BE CONTINUED

For those of you wondering, Bob wasn't supposed to be like this at first he was supposed to be cooler with a cool name. But I think it's fun to torture him this way. I had fun making this stupid chapter because it's much weirder than my ones before it I think!


	17. Just a little thing called the Sohma syn...

Luna: No new zodiac cat because no one can ever replace our Kyou!!! Oh yeah, and I've already run by the other Gundam Wing characters zodiacs, right? If not, Trowa is the dog, Quatre the bunny, Wufei the dragon, Heero the ox, Relena the pig snicker, and Bob is the tiger.

And to the bitchmonkey person: tch, my fic so I can do what I want. You don't like it; well that's your opinion. I have a few people that do and I won't stop writing this fic because you have some stupid problems with it.

Chapter Seventeen: Just a little thing called the Sohma syndrome

Duo lay in his bed silently. Bob hadn't moved even an inch which was okay to Duo because he didn't want to have to listen to all the annoying 'Bob's. Tip toeing out of bed, Duo crossed the room and opened the sliding door once more. The hallways were still lit even though it was getting to be either pretty late at night or really early in the morning. Since he didn't eat anything at the banquet and he hadn't succeeded in his hunt for cheese, Duo proceeded back to the kitchen in search of a new snack. Hatsuharu was sitting at the table inside the kitchen but instead of running for his life, Duo sat down across from him in hopes to make peace.

"Hey there! Mind if I just call you, Haru?" Duo asked in an all-too-cheerful voice.

"Um… okay…" Hatsuharu said slowly with a blank look in his eyes.

Duo stared at the table with a fake happy expression. Hatsuharu didn't seem to notice Duo's horrible acting skills or the fact that he was sweating bullets. Ritsu popped into the room.

"OH NO! I'M SORRY FOR INTERRUPTING YOUR TIME! I WAS JUST HUNGRY AND GOMEN NASAI!!!!" Ritsu sobbed.

"Ritsu… shut up…" Duo groaned. To his surprise, Ritsu went quiet immediately.

"It's late…" Haru said randomly. At first Duo thought that meant Hatsuharu wanted to go to bed but Haru didn't make any movement to stand.

"What should we three guys (at least I think Ritsu is a guy) talk about?" Duo asked.

"How about a man-to-man talk about women?" Ritsu suggested, making Duo's eyes widened in surprise. Was it just him or was Ritsu trying to be assertive? "GOMEN NASAI!!! I'VE MADE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!!!"

"That's a good idea, Ritsu." Duo grinned… after all he didn't want to continue listening to Ritsu's whining.

Each of them decided to just wander off in thought and aimlessly describe the person they admired or their dream girl (or guy depending on their taste).

"They'd say that they lived just for me…" Ritsu sighed.

"Someone who was cold on the outside but had a very warm heart." Haru mumbled.

"A girl unlike any other who can actually kick my ass." Duo laughed.

"-And we'll eat jelly buns…"

"-When she smiles it would make those around her smile…"

"-With her blue bangs hanging over her eyes…"

"What?" Haru snapped out of it and jerked his head over to Duo.

"Huh?" Duo blinked while Ritsu continued rambling on in the background.

"Whom were you talking about?" Haru asked.

"Whom were _you_ talking about?" Duo perked an eyebrow.

"Yume Midori…" Haru went back to his blank stare.

"Same here…" Duo said slowly.

Immediately there was just a little tension in the air between the rat and the ox. But before either of them could start an argument Ritsu had stopped rambling. "GOMEN NASAI!!! I'M THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR STARTING THIS ARGUMENT, WHICH HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET!!! I APOLOGIZE TO YOU BOTH!!! PLEASE DON'T FIGHT!!! I'M SOOOO SORRY!!!"

Rin had entered the room during Ritsu's outburst (which was currently being ignored). She went to the freezer to get a hay cycle. You've never heard of a hay cycle? WELL! It's like a pop cycle but only with hay. Why hay you ask? Duh, Rin's the horse…

Anyway, Rin got what she wanted and snickered when she walked past the table on her way out. "Fools!" She spat snidely and then tripped on the doorway. Duo would have burst out laughing but for one, Haru was giving him an evil look, and two, Rin had caught herself before she fell. Ritsu was still sobbing and apologizing so Duo left the kitchen and saw Shigure exiting Akito's room for who knows what. Hatori burst out of the room afterwards and Duo stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.

"I'M A WOMAN I TELL YOU!!! A WOMAN!!!" Hatori yelled and ran past Duo wearing a hula skirt.

Ayame came around the corner and stopped Hatori. "Listen to me carefully, Ha'ri." Aya said calmly. "Take deep breaths and calm down. You are not a woman, you are a man so just calm down."

Duo was stunned and couldn't move… well, could _you_ move if Hatori ran past wearing a hula skirt and Ayame was the voice of reason? Oh my God!!! The world is ending!!!

Ayame led Hatori away and Shigure merely scratched his head. "I have a feeling that Akito had something to do with that…" Shigure turned right back around and opened Akito's door. "Akito, did you do something to Hatori?"

Akito was still stroking his teddy bear and when he turned around he was wearing a girl's school uniform. Akito blinked twice at Shigure's question before blurting out, "It was the bird's fault!!!" Akito jerked a spazzing finger at the little white bird that was perched on a flowerpot. "The bird hypnotized me into hypnotizing Hatori!!! IT'S YOUR ENTIRE FAULT!!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!"

"Forget I asked." Shigure sighed and shut the door.

"You people scare me…" Duo managed to say while he remained stiff as a board.

"Don't we?" Shigure laughed lightly as he walked past the shocked Duo and went back to his own room.

Still trying to get rid of his stiffness, Duo decided to explore since the kitchen was giving off a don't-you-dare-enter aura.

Duo strode past an open sliding door leading outside casually when he saw Heero sitting outside, stargazing. Screeching to a halt, Duo stopped and his behind the door, spying on Heero. The quiet and mysterious teen didn't do much except occasionally shift his position to keep his limbs from falling asleep. How could anyone sit outside on a cold January night in shorts anyway?! Someone tapped Duo on the shoulder and Duo screamed like a girl. Freaking out, the braided boy ran away into the nearby forest of the Sohma house. Just kidding he ran back to his bedroom like a coward. Heero had turned around aiming his gun at where Duo had been then looked up slightly to see a surprised Trowa standing there with his hand hovering where he had tapped Duo on the shoulder. They both shrugged and Heero placed his gun back in spandex space in his shorts. How the hell does he do that? It's a mystery and always will be…

TO BE CONTINUED

I apologize if my writing has gone to Hell but I hope you guys don't mind too much. I also changed the genre just a bit to Humor/Drama because I find it more fitting. I think that's about it ja!


	18. Strange Mystery

I'm deeply sorry this chapter took so long to get out but I've had a sudden burst of ideas for Yu Yu Hakusho stories and just didn't feel like updating. Not only with the sudden inspiration for YYH but I still have so many unfinished fics so I'm trying to finish my unfinished ones before continuing with all my new ideas.

Chapter Eighteen: Strange Mystery

Sun shone in through Duo's window make him wake up with an unpleasant shine in his eyes. Plus the white snow outside made the light all the more unbearable. Sitting up, Duo noticed Bob was no where to be found. Oh well, who knows where the little brain dead freak wandered off to. Duo got dressed in some warm clothes and stepped out into the hallway and into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh! Ha'ri I feel terrible." Shigure whined.

"Pull yourself together." Hatori was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping on some coffee while Shigure was hanging over the table.

"Look whose talking hula skirt man." Shigure snickered and ended up with hot coffee spilt on his back. "But really Ha'ri, I don't feel well. You're a doctor so do something about it."

Duo sat at the table, his eyes struggling to keep open but quite content to remain unnoticed by the two adults. Hatori examined Shigure quickly and cleared his throat to give his professional opinion.

"Say it ain't so, doc!" Shigure gasped dramatically.

"I haven't even said anything yet." Hatori had a vein popping out at his temple.

"I know, but I've always wanted to say that." Shigure smiled.

"You need a rabies shot." Hatori confirmed.

"WHAT?!" Shigure leaped to his feet only to sidle back into his chair from not feeling well.

"It'll only be seven painful shots to the stomach." Hatori wasn't exactly up to comforting the distressed dog.

"Ha'ri, you're so cruel to me!" Shigure cried.

"Come with me." Hatori led Shigure off to get his many painful shots. Screaming came from down the hall that made Duo shiver.

"Hatori! Stop it! You're killing me!!!" Shigure yelled.

"What the hell are they doing making such a racket this early in the morning?!" Kyou stomped into the kitchen to grab himself a glass of milk.

Duo shrugged and decided to get himself a pop-tart. Yuki walked in next, rubbing his eyes and even more asleep than Duo. "What's all the racket about?" He sighed half-asleep.

"Sounds like Shigure's getting tortured." Kyou snickered. "Serves him right."

The screaming stopped and Shigure dragged his feet passed the kitchen before collapsing and transforming into a dog. "Now look what you did, Ha'ri…" Shigure mumbled in dog form.

"Oh stop you're complaining." Hatori walked past Shigure so he could finish his coffee. The upset and hurt dog ran out of the house.

Duo couldn't fight off sleep any longer so he went to take a nap and slept some of the day away. He had his first dream of Yume in a while. Nothing really special just her ignoring him…

.

"Hey you damn rat, wake up!" Kyou yelled through Duo's door to awaken him.

"Hold your claws you impatient outcast!" Duo yelled in return.

"You wanna start something, braid boy?!" Kyou kicked the door threateningly.

"It'll be your ass getting kicked!" Duo retorted while sliding out of bed.

A loud crash echoed throughout Sohma house when Kyou kicked the door in and got beaten once again by Duo. The confident braided boy walked out of the room triumphantly and went back to the dining room where everyone was having a nice dinner. There were three empty chairs at the table: one for Kyou, another for Bob, and the last one for Satori.

Duo turned to Akito on his left and asked, "Where's er… Bob and Satori?"

Akito's lips turned into a twisted smile. "They're not feeling well and left to go back to their own homes."

"Uh right…" Duo happened to catch Naoko's eye and she seemed a little scared and worried.

Most of the Sohmas were very quiet during dinner. Duo was deep in thought, despite him being extremely hungry, and still very sleepy for some strange reason… Bob might have just wandered off to the bathroom and gotten lost. But what about Satori?

"So you were caught by the local pound when you transformed today, Shii-chan?" Ayame asked, interrupting Duo's thoughts.

"Yes! They were so cruel to me! That's the last time I ever send money for charity to such a vile organization." Shigure declared.

"Stop your babbling." Yuki sighed. "You never sent money to them anyway."

"All the more reason not to!" Shigure pointed out.

"Silence!" Akito snarled and everyone went very quiet.

Eating in silence, Ritsu reached across the table to get some food that was in front of Fujika. "That's _rude_." Fujika whispered.

Ritsu quickly recalled his hand. "I'M SO SORRY!!! THAT WAS VERY RUDE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CAME OVER ME!!! I SHOULD JUST DIE NOW FOR INSULTING YOU SO BADLY!!!"

"It's your fault your like that!" Fujika snapped.

"YES, IT IS AND I AM TERRIBLY SORRY!" Ritsu bowed apologetically many times.

"Now stop yelling will you!" Fujika yelled.

"Quiet, both of you." Hatori insisted.

Fujika nodded and stopped yelling while Ritsu did the same. The irritated woman left the table to smoke a cigarette outside. The meal continued on in silence.

"Tomorrow you will all be free to go." Akito stated and then smiled a poisonous smile.

Duo wanted to leave as soon as possible. Something didn't feel right about all of this. The braided teenager put down his chop sticks and put his hands in his lap while he thought. Under the table, someone gave Duo's hands a reassuring squeeze. Duo turned to his right to see Heero giving him a comforting look. For some strange reason… it _did_ make Duo feel better that Heero was nearby.

.

The next day Duo woke up pretty close to noon. Slinging his bag with his clothes over his shoulder, he strolled out of his room quite relieved at being able to leave. He didn't get far before he saw Fujika looking around for something.

"Did you lose something?" Duo asked curiously.

Fujika looked up at Duo and for the first time he saw fear in her eyes. "Have you seen Naoko? I can't find her anywhere!"

"No… can't say I have." Duo glanced around.

Fujika broke down in tears. "She's my only niece and I can't find her! Did she run away or has something happened to her?!" She covered her face with her hands.

Duo knelt down beside her and comforted her. "She's probably okay. Naoko is very mature and responsible, she'll be back."

Fujika stopped her crying and brushed away her tears. "You're right, Duo. Thank you…" Duo smiled and helped her to her feet. She bid him farewell and he walked back out into the crisp winter morning. That was too weird though… what was going on?

.TO BE CONTINUED.

Well there probably won't be any more stupidly funny chapters. Everything's going to get a little darker from here on out…


	19. Three down, nine to go

I know I haven't updated this story in a while and I'm so sorry! But now that I have high school to worry about it's even more difficult so please bear with me.

Chapter Nineteen: Three down, nine to go 

"It hardly felt like we were even on vacation." Duo complained aloud the first day back in school.

"Hn." Heero agreed. Somehow during their stay at the Sohma house the two of them had befriended each other without knowing it.

"Good morning Heero and Duo." Quatre smiled warmly, arm in arm with Trowa.

"Good morning!" Duo grinned in his goofy way.

A familiar blonde with blue bangs streaked past Duo's path on her way out the door. Yume looked pretty pissed off and stressed. "Hey Yume, wait!" Duo called and ran after her.

She stopped short of the door and half-turned to look at Duo. "What?"

"Where are you going? If you keep skipping so much you'll fail again." Duo reasoned.

A low chuckle escaped her lips. "I'm no longer worried about failing, I just dropped out."

"What?! I thought you _wanted_ to stay in school." Duo nearly dropped his books at hearing this while Heero stood at the end of the hall listening and waiting for Duo.

"Well, I have to quit school in order to get a full-time job and take care of Gin. I actually have a soft spot for the little drama queen. Besides I've been getting pestered by legal officials because I am taking care of her without adopting her or making it a official or anything." Yume explained.

"Oh…" Hearing this, Duo began to understand all the times she had yelled at him. After all, dealing with school, a part-time job, taking care of an 11-year-old, and taking care of legal issues could be quite stressful. "Good luck to you then." Duo encouraged her.

Yume smiled gently for the first time in a while. "Thanks Duo, see you some other time." She waved and left the building without another word.

Duo joined Heero as they walked to first hour. "Who was that?" Heero questioned skeptically.

"Just a friend." Duo reassured.

Later that day… 

Duo closed his locker and strolled out of the school into the cold January weather wearing his coat. The day didn't turn out half bad. He no longer had Heero wanting to shoot him and Yume didn't hate him so life was good at the moment!

"Duo!" Yume yelled and ran up to him, gasping for breath.

"Easy Yume, you'll get sick if you run outside in the cold air for too long!" Duo scolded her for being slightly careless.

"It doesn't… matter…" She panted. "Gin is… missing…"

Now this was strange…

"She may have just wandered off, I bet she'll be back soon." Duo tried to comfort Yume.

"No, Gin wouldn't do that." Yume looked into Duo's cobalt eyes with a pleading look. "Help me find her, please."

"Sure." Duo nodded and the two of them split up to look for Gin.

During his search, Duo paused by a TV store and a news flash popped up on the many TVs in the shop window.

"Mysteriously, four people have disappeared throughout the city. Two young girls by the name of Satori Shindou and Naoko Takenaka are among those that have vanished. A young man by the name of Bob Zoloft is another person missing. And we have yet to confirm the fourth one." The news reporter well… reported.

_Gin! She might be the fourth!_ Duo broke into a run to search. A guy with white hair and a black hairline was running towards Duo and the two accidentally collided.

"Hatsuharu! Watch where you're going next time!" Duo yelled at Haru.

"Same to you!" Haru retorted.

"What are you doing anyway?" Duo stood and dusted the snow off of him.

"I was helping Yume look for Gin when I got lost and crashed into you." Hatsuharu explained dryly.

"It's called street signs buddy." Duo sneered.

"Why don't you look with me?" Haru suggested because he didn't want to get lost again.

"Whatever." Shrugging, the two of them continued down the street in the direction that Duo had been going.

For a while their search was silent, Duo liking it this way for once. Hatsuharu was glancing around before he mentioned, "While I was at the Sohma mansion during New Years I did some research in the family's library."

"And?" Duo pretended to be mildly interested even though he didn't really care if Hatsuharu was studying or not.

"I found an old transcript that told of a legend in the Sohma family besides the zodiac folk tale. A long time ago, in the Sohma family, they tried to break the curse. But the plan backfired, leaving twelve people cursed at random. Unlike the Sohma family these twelve people were not actually possessed by the spirits of their animals, they only transform into the animal of their year. It's still a mystery whether or not there is a cat in the second zodiac." Haru explained in detail.

Duo's attention perked up at hearing this. "Well that might explain a few things… oh hey this is Ayame's shop." The braided boy didn't even notice the shop until he passed the flowery sign. Hatsuharu grabbed Duo's shirt and pulled him into the shop, not letting him escape his grasp. "What are you doing, Haru?!"

"Oh! Boys how nice to see you!" Ayame greeted casually.

"I guess you've heard about the disappearing of four people." The zodiac cow questioned solemnly.

"You can let go of me now, Haru…" Duo grumbled.

"Of course I have! Nori went missing after his morning break today." Ayame's golden eyes darkened.

"So he was the fourth one to be absent?" Duo asked.

"This is a strange coincidence. Do you suspect someone we know being behind this?" Haru continued his questioning as if he was interrogating Ayame.

"Stop ignoring me you guys!" Duo ordered.

"Of course I have a few suspects. Hatori and Shigure also seem to know something." The zodiac snake noted.

"You guys!!!" Duo raised his voice.

"Duo, we better go find Yume." Hatsuharu dragged a kicking and whining Duo away and out of Ayame's fabric shop.

Outside a park… 

The silvery haired girl, Gin, walked quietly through the snow, head hung low. Akito had summoned her earlier in the day, requesting to speak with her.

"Why do you trouble, Yume? You are only a burden to her you know… She'll eventually break down from the stress and leave you alone. She'll hate the sight of you and you won't have any where else to go." Akito smiled wickedly.

Gin stopped walking and tears started to pour from her eyes. Yume rounded a corner to enter the park when she saw Gin and was overwhelmed with relief. "Gin!" The blonde Yankee ran up to the younger girl and hugged her tightly in her arms. "You had me so worried! You better not do that again or else you'll pay…" Yume joked but stopped short when she saw the tears in Gin's eyes. "What's wrong, Gin?"

"You are only a burden to her you know…" 

TO BE CONTINUED 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The story will actually be ending soon, don't know how soon though so I'll get back to you on that.


	20. The Clearing Sky

This is the last chapter as far as I am concerned.

**Chapter Twenty: The Clearing Sky**

"What's wrong, Gin?" Yume held Gin in her arms to comfort her.

_"You are only a burden to her, you know…"_

Duo and Hatsuharu entered the park and both were glad to see Gin okay. "_Oi_, Yume!" Duo called.

"Gin, please tell me what's wrong." Yume completely ignored Duo for the moment.

"A-Akito… said I was only a burden to you!" Gin sobbed into Yume's shoulder.

"Akito?" Haru breathed quietly.

"Silly, you're not a burden to me at all!" Yume smiled.

"Really?" Gin sniffled.

"You bet!" Yume winked.

"We better find the rest of the second zodiac members. I have a feeling Akito is behind all of these disappearings." Hatsuharu explained to Duo and Yume.

"Well now let's see… that means we have to find, Fujika." Duo ticked one off his fingers.

"I can see if she is at my work." Yume answered.

"Then that leaves Heero, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Relena." Duo announced.

"Quatre Winner? I know where he lives so I'll go find him." Haru stated. For once he actually knew where something was or maybe he was just fooling himself.

"Ten chances out of ten that Trowa is also there." Duo nodded his head. "I can go find Heero and then we'll deal with Wufei and Relena later."

"We should meet back here once we find them!" Yume ordered and they split off into their separate ways.

By the time Duo reached Heero's apartment and knocked on the door, he was out of breath.

"Duo?" Heero peeked through the slit in the door curiously from the chain lock being locked and then opened the door fully. "Is something wrong?"

"Non-Sohmas that were with us during New Years are disappearing." Duo explained everything as quickly as he could.

Nodding, Heero grabbed his 9mm handgun and locked his apartment behind them.

When the two of them reached the park, Haru was explaining the situation to Quatre and Trowa but Gin and Yume weren't with Fujika.

"I asked my boss if Fujika-_san_ had shown up for work today but he said she hadn't. Didn't even call in sick or anything." The blonde Yankee told the others.

"She must've been kidnapped as well." Haru mused.

"Does anyone know where we could find, Wufei?" The braided teenager questioned the rest of them.

"No, but I can hack into the school's computer to find out." The platinum blonde grinned deviously.

"And here I thought you were a goody-two-shoes." Duo chuckled.

**After hacking the school computer…**

"So Wufei lives in an all boys dojo? No wonder he has problems with women." Duo snorted.

Heero left the group and entered the dojo momentarily to get Wufei. The rest of the group was waiting in a tense silence.

"Should we even bother looking for Relena?" Yume asked. No one answered. "I say we should let Akito kill her or whatever. I even threatened to do so myself when she was my Mythology project partner." Most everybody snickered because we all know Yume would kill Relena if she could.

"What the hell is this about, Yuy?! This better be good!" A pissed off Wufei exited the dojo with Heero.

"Just shut up and move your ass." Heero ordered.

"What are we doing next?" Trowa yawned.

"I say we track down Akito and barbeque the bastard!!!" Duo exclaimed, sarcastically.

"I say we just track down Akito and find out what he's done with the rest of the second zodiac members." Haru decided.

"Agreed!" Everyone nodded his or her confirmation.

**At the Sohma mansion…**

"None of you understand the curse, therefore you shouldn't be a part of it… I'll exterminate all of you filthy second zodiac people!" Akito spat onto Relena, his most recent victim.

Blood stained the floor and Akito walked slowly to the opposite side of the room to retrieve a rusted and blood stained sword.

"And if chopping off your head doesn't work then at least you will die a slow and painful death from a nasty blood-transmitted disease!!!" Akito laughed evilly and slid the blade under Relena's chin, ready to slit her throat at any second.

"Hold it! Stop right there, Akito!" Duo and the others barged into the room and looked back and forth between Akito and Relena.

"Duo, my love! You have come here to rescue me!" Relena exclaimed dramatically; almost completely oblivious that Akito was about to slice her head off.

"Oh… Pardon me for interrupting your execution, Akito. Please continue." Duo smirked at Relena.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Relena wailed.

"Shut UP!!!" Akito snarled and threw a vase at Relena's head, knocking her unconscious.

"Anyway… you can't go around killing innocent people like Satori, Naoko, Nori, and a bunch of other people." Duo jerked his finger in Akito's direction.

"Don't point your finger at me! It's all your fault!!!" Akito reached for another vase and threw it at Duo but Heero shot the vase with his trusty 9mm handgun.

"Don't you _dare_ hurt _my_ Duo." Heero warned.

Duo sweat dropped. "Yeah… what _he_ said."

"You belong in an insane asylum, Akito." Hatsuharu pointed out in his stoic White Haru way.

"You can't go against me! None of you can!" The head of the Sohma family gritted his teeth and was starting to freak out in his uber creepy Akito way.

From another door entered Shigure and Hatori along with Yuki behind them. "We're tired of following you Akito. It's time we put you where you belong and find another head of the family." Hatori stated.

"Hatori! I _order_ you to stop all this nonsense." Akito growled.

Hatori merely shook his head and he along with Shigure restrained Akito and led him out of the Sohma house and he went bye-bye to the closest insane asylum.

"Well I'm glad none of the rest of you were harmed." Yuki smiled pleasantly.

"Akito is a big meanie!" Gin stuck her tongue out and Yume hugged her shoulders.

Quatre turned to Trowa and smiled. "I am deeply grateful Akito didn't kidnap you. I don't think I would be able to go on."

"The same goes for me." Trowa replied.

"This is getting all sappy and lovey dovey." Wufei complained.

"What about you, Duo?" Heero asked.

The braided chestnut boy stepped forward towards Yuki. "Hey Yuki, you can be Prince of Yukiro Academy. I have other things more important to me now." Duo glanced at all his friends and his newest friend Heero.

Yuki just smiled.

Another person wandered into the room and it was… BOB! "Bob."

"It's BOB!!!" Everyone exclaimed.

And in the end, Bob Zoloft was the only original character to survive (excluding Gin and Yume). Akito was sent to the insane asylum. Relena's unconscious body was ignored. The little white birdie couldn't crap on Akito anymore and Fan girl #7 stole Duo's rubber ducky!

**THE END**

Hope you all enjoyed this fic and for those of you who like my Fruits Basket stories I suggest you read the stories I am writing with a friend. The pen name is Otaku Corp and the story is called "A Curse to Remember."


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